Wait a second and listen up. You’ve heard it a hundred times, but it’s worth going over it once again. “You are beautiful. Don’t let Photoshop tell you otherwise,” says Nikita Seth, founder of Manjha: The Travelling Thread, a brand that believes in stories of realism. Her clothes and jewellery are immersed in an ocean of authentic stories, that the waves of originality take to great heights. She designs for women on the move, which is perhaps why she chose a moving metaphor for our rendezvous—the Rapid Metro Rail in Gurgaon. “My work is for women, who no matter where they come from, are shuffling between several things, and managing all well. Manjha is an ode to them,” says Seth.
An enlightened set of ideals and a spirited stance gives her a dose of imagination each day. Her ideology embraces diversity. “When people look at our photographs, I want them to find women of all shapes, sizes, heights and colours. They should be able to find someone they relate to,” she says.
The brand upholds the virtue of being a sustainable one with full gusto. They send their fabric katran to the NGO Goonj to be made into sanitary pads and seating cushions for children.
Manjha was born overnight and literally with a post it slip enlisting a bucket list. Of all the things up there, the brand saw the light of day.
Next, she outlined a textile and handicraft map of India by negotiating the grassroot turf to source the best indigenous materials. “We work with small printers and weavers instead of turning to craft clusters,” she says, adding, “The first place I picked was Rajasthan. As we grow, I hope to showcase a lot more of what the state stands for, whether it’s the art of kathputli or the intricate blue pottery patterns.”
For many of their outfits, they have fabric enough for just a few pieces. This way, Seth points out, they avoid hundreds of people walking around in the same dress. Not following a fixed templet encourages them to create new clothes every week.
As you read this, the entrepreneur is preparing for her visit to Kolkata for the Shuffling Suitcases exhibition early next month. The platform resonates with her own credo of bringing labels, which believe in slow fashion. But not to long ago, Seth tell us he too was feeding the fast fashion frenzy at Forever 21 and Primark. Not anymore. She is now trying to be a casual sari wearer. In line with that, she’s also working on the sari line for which she’s heading to Varanasi shortly.
If there are things she is good at, there are others that are clearly still a scramble, like early mornings. “It seems to be a crucial part of ‘adulting’,” she sniggers.
It makes her mad when celebrities and influencers don’t use their voices responsibly. She wants to adopt lots of dogs, as long as they aren’t Pugs, and most definitely wants to send her parents on an Alaskan cruise.
Her pace is determined by everything she wants to achieve—most importantly, putting out beautiful things into the world that make people feel good about themselves. Tassels, bardots and chokers will come and go, but feeling great will never go out of style,” she says.
Get it from: 503 and 509, Palm Springs Plaza, Sector 54, Golf Course Road, Gurgaon. By appointment.