The Premaasi Story
About Premaasi Textiles
Handmade textiles and textile accessories from India. Selected for material, technique, and feel.
I run a handmade textile house guided by one standard: work done well, by people who know how to do it.
When I grew up in India, clothing didn't begin as a finished product. You bought fabric and had your clothes tailored. Much of that fabric was mill-made. But what stayed with me was the cloth that felt different the moment I touched it — hand-block printed cotton that softened with wear, hand-embroidered cloth where every stitch was imperfectly perfect, hand-painted or hand-woven fabric whose color, texture, and pattern could never be repeated.
My story
Over time, I learned to recognize what worked. Not what was new or ornate, but what carried weight, movement, and presence. I didn't have a language for it then. I just knew.I came to understand craft as a way of making textiles that have visual presence but also work for the specific purpose for which we choose them. That understanding still guides how I choose my products. It's how I still understand value."I don't separate textiles by category. I look at the work. The same cloth that makes sense worn on the body can also belong in the home."
State-run handloom and craft emporia once made handwork part of everyday life. They showcased regional textile traditions not as artifacts, but for daily use. Those institutions still exist in various forms today. But the environment around them has changed.
Handmade textiles now operate in markets built for speed, scale, and homogeneity. Artisanal skills have evolved for a more urbane market. Artisans continue to produce extraordinary work. What's harder now is creating the space for more people to find this work and appreciate it.
That is the challenge I take on with Premaasi Textiles — bringing textile work shaped through craft into modern wardrobes and homes, without asking it to become something it isn't.
Nothing here is produced at scale. Nothing is replicated exactly. Premaasi exists to ensure this work remains viable by allowing it to be worn, used, and chosen again.
The artisans
Women make much of the work I source today — or they support the work by spinning yarn, making bobbins, or completing bandhani tie-work alongside their households. They are often from low-income households. In some cases, they are primary earners for their families.
The work endures because it fits real lives. Much of it is home-based, giving women the flexibility to complete household responsibilities while doing the work. When the work sustains a household, it remains alive and relevant. That reality is, in part, how I decide what kind of work I will support and bring forward.
What sustainability means to me
I don't use the phrase "sustainable fashion." Not because I don't care — but because the word has been used so broadly it no longer tells you anything specific. Here is what I can tell you concretely.
Nothing produced at scale
Every piece is made one at a time, by hand. Small batches. Nothing replicated exactly.
Upcycled vintage sari silk
Kantha shawls and sari silk necklaces are made from vintage saris given a second life. 92 million tons of textile waste are generated globally every year. These pieces work against that.
Natural materials only
Silk, cotton, linen, wool. No synthetics. Materials chosen for how they wear, age, and feel over time.
Fair wages and home-based work
I work with artisan enterprises and NGOs that pay fair wages. Much of the work is home-based, giving women flexibility alongside household responsibilities.
Buying less, choosing better
A piece you reach for again and again is more sustainable than ten you forget. That is the standard I hold when I select what to carry.
Keeping craft alive
Shibori, bandhani, kantha, handloom weaving — these skills survive when they are practiced and valued. Every purchase is a vote for that continuation.
A few things you might not know
"This textile house is for women who notice the difference and know that their choices sustain work done well, over time."