Right after graduating from NIFT New Delhi, the founder, Richa Meena set out to build a brand rooted in the culture and heritage of her birth place, Rajasthan.
Kaala Teeka was born out of this desire to amalgamate the easy urban silhouettes with the crafts that she grew up watching and appreciating. Back in her college days our founder in one of her cluster projects she travelled Rajasthan for a month and looking for people who are into Indian handicrafts. In her journey she visited several villages near town Bagru, Jaipur and places near by and found some artisans who are working from the villages itself and making beautiful products like Blue-pottery, Block Printing , Gota Patti etc. The idea started from there and she started the brand Kaala Teeka with sustainable clothing with local artisans who are making beautiful designs and planning to add more handicrafts such as blue-pottery, Home furnishings etc.
The name, Kaala Teeka, itself comes from something very personal, symbolic of the beauty mark that adorns our founder’s face. This personal approach to things is carried through to every stage of our garment making, from selection of fabrics to working with artisans in Jaipur and New Delhi. Always experimenting with new silhouettes that work for our urban consumer with craft practices that need our attention, we care about the little details that otherwise go unnoticed.
Kaala Teeka is a one-stop shop which strives to provide a unique blend of Indian handicrafts with a western touch to them. We work on creating handicraft products where We use fabrics such as cotton, linen and mulmul fabrics which are easy to wear and manage. In addition to this, We apply different varieties of Indian handicrafts such as block prints, hand embroidery and more to pieces which have a western-style silhouette.
Before we start designing and creating a piece, we do a lot of research so that each line has something unique in it. We conduct research with WGSN etc which helps give a forecast on the latest trends; additionally, we also go to various different places which hold the origin of traditional Indian handicraft, such as Jaipur for block printing art and so on. Once we have all our research with me, we then put it all together to create a design. I have a small unit and with their help, I design and create samples, which are then sent out.
Once selected,We then set about creating multiple pieces of them. For creating uniquely designed collections, we do a little bit of research from just about everywhere and so I also take inspiration from just about everywhere. The main aspect that helps set my pieces apart however, is that We make only indo-western styled garments.
