Ishma Handcrafted Accessories

India is the Land of Diversities, famous for its craftsmanship. For centuries, the knowledge of these handicrafts has been passed on from one generation to the next. However, numerous traditional crafts are now close to dying due to various socio-economic reasons. The artisans are giving up on these crafts they once considered sacred, in hope to find livelihoods somewhere else. These crafts are an account of our traditions, our culture and history through changing times and it is our responsibility to safeguard them. Rekha is the Cofounder of Ishma Accessories based in Hyderabad,India., which works with artisans from rural handicraft clusters to make unique handcrafted Fashion and lifestyle accessories. Rekha has developed an affinity towards India’s traditional handicrafts during her projects based on handicrafts and visits to the village as part of the National Institute of Fashion Technology ‘s curriculum.,where she completed her education in Fashion Design. Working with the renowned Designer Manish Arora, she learnt the boundless possibilities of modernising indian traditional artforms and techniques. She, along with her cofounder Vandyaa identified the current state of these crafts & artisans and the potential these handicrafts have to grow and provide livelihoods to numerous artisans. They have then quit their jobs to focus solely on building Ishma Accessories. From eliminating the middlemen to work directly with the artisans to design intervention and better pay, her startup focuses on creating sustainable livelihood opportunities to their artisans. Ishma works on a Job-work basis with the artisans, eliminating the burden of maintaining inventory to the artisans. Through her vision to work with and for more crafts, the organisation now works with 4 Handicraft villages across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Rekha wants to build stronger clusters and expand their product reach to places all over the world by 2020, taking the country’s culture and history through them. Her firm targets to work with more than 10 crafts(100+ artisans) by the end of 2020, with a goal to triple their artisans’ current income. She looks forward to a thriving and fair Handicraft sector, where the artisans are motivated to pass on their sacred art to their offsprings.