What is The Baksa Project?
Baksa is a storage trunk for the clothes that my family has held on to for decades - clothes that have history and remind me of my roots.
Baksa is a treasure trove of rare collectibles handpicked by my mother from my family's travels around the country.
Baksa is an infinity box. Each day, it gives me something new, even though it is meant for storing things considered old and useless. To me, they are treasure!
Introducing The Baksa Project - A personal project where my attempt is to reconnect with my past through clothes. To bring out beautiful fabrics and scraps that have been with my family for many years and to repurpose them by creating unique pieces of clothing. With that, my aim is to also break up with fast fashion and be more conscious about how I use and reuse my clothes.
The Baksa Project is a potpourri of upcycling projects and stories about nostalgic and conscious fashion. Everything you see here is original and handmade. Rather, hand-mended.
Being someone who is forever drawn to old-world nostalgia, all the projects that I work on have themes of the past blended with the present in ways I can best depict.
The vintage projects comprise of garments made using vintage fabrics.
The upcycled projects include newer, but damaged garments mended using recycled material.
Picking up the threads: How we can help sustain artisan communities in the absence of craft markets in a post-pandemic world
Includes a list of websites to buy from and funds to donate to.
Crafting Resistance: How Contemporary Craftivists are Using Their Handiwork to Voice Dissent
Craft, but make it political!
Hanging by a Thread: The Lost Art of Making (and Making Do)
As society looks at most objects as easily replaceable and disposable, the act of making and mending helps us appreciate the value of the things we own.
An Illustrated Guide to Caring for Your Vintage and Second-Hand Garments
A mindful fashion purchase is great; what’s better is a conscious effort to make it last!
As Vague(n) as it Gets: Are ‘Vegan’ Leather and Fur Sustainable Alternates to the Real Stuff?
As the spotlight on sustainability and ethics continues to shine, several apparel and accessory brands vie for a piece of the green pie by misusing vegan terminology in their brand messaging.
The Aesthetic of Resistance: Do Protest Tees Actually Benefit the Causes They Represent?
Fashion can be an important vehicle to steer change as long as it doesn’t stop at T-shirt activism.
Garb, Not Garbage: Why Minimising Your Wardrobe is Not Always the Most Sustainable Choice
By getting rid of your old clothes, you’re doing the environment more damage than good.
“What’s in it For Me?”: Unpacking Sustainable Fashion’s Value Proposition for the ‘Millennial’
In the context of sustainable fashion, greater good does not have to compete with self-interest.
All’s Well That Trends Well (What Doesn’t is Probably Great Too!)
Out of fashion doesn’t necessarily have to mean out of style.
The Mindful Maximalist:A Maximalist’s Guide to Adopting a Sustainable Approach to Fashion
Aesthetically speaking, sustainable fashion has a certain air of minimality and sobriety about it. What does it then hold for the lover of offbeat style with a motivation to be mindful and conscious?
CONscious Claims: The Truth About How Your Favourite Fashion Brands Are Tricking You
In recent times, the talk of sustainability and ethical fashion has garnered a lot of media and consumer interest around the world. Numerous fast fashion labels whose fundamental business model goes against the idea of sustainable production, are now making “green” claims to lure responsible consumers, thereby giving impetus to a trend called greenwashing.
Finders Keepers:In Praise of Being Unconventional and Un-Instaworthy
If our longing for something is kindled only when someone else sees worth in it, and our choices need constant validation, where is there any room left for individuality?
Your grandfather's favourite blazer, your mother's first saree or the jumper from your college days that you're holding onto with all your heart may mean nothing to the world, but to you, it must mean the world.
The Baksa Workshop is a space meant to immortalise these important pieces of clothing, make them more personal and make them last!
