Today on the blog, we feature Bindu Nair, Creative director and founder at Ela India a sustainable womens wear brand based in Palakkad. Her story…  

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Bindu Nair, and I am the creative director and founder of Ela India, a sustainable fashion label based out of a small town in Kerala. I am a former journalist who spent years writing on branding and design. I spent close to two decades in Bombay, working for companies like Times Now, Conde Nast India and Asian Paints but in mid-2017, I decided to take a career break, to explore an alternative to big city living.

How did you begin Ela India and how has it evolved over the years?

The idea for launching Ela coincided with a personal desire to move away from the big city and explore small town living and everything that it stood for- a better quality of life, a more mindful approach to creating a work-life balance. The inception of Ela emerged from this journey- Could we create a more thoughtfully designed womenswear brand that was relevant to the needs of the modern Indian woman, but one that we could build from the ground up, all from a small town in Kerala? Our location allowed us to circumvent the usual pressures of running a business in an expensive city with large overheads, and gave us space to grow more organically, and in a way that was more fulfilling personally. Our womenswear line brings together handloom fabrics with contemporary silhouettes. We are a young brand- we finish a year in February this year but the last ten months have been promising. We just started our first retail collaboration, we are available at Via Kerala stores in Fort Kochi and are looking to launch our website by the middle of this year.  

We work directly with weaver cooperatives to source our fabrics and believe that the next successful Indian label isn’t going to come from Bombay or Delhi but from smaller city centers in the country.

Why is making so important to you?

I have spent years writing on brands, design and visual culture and yet, it fascinates me when something I visualized in my head resonates with a customer need. When I hear someone say they love Ela’s aesthetic- that’s very valuable to me because it means we managed to communicate our idea of ‘simple elegance for the everyday’ to a customer.  

Your work space. 

Our workspace is our small studio in Palakkad, Kerala from where we visualise, design, produce and ship all our clothes across the country and sometimes to cities abroad. Our studio is where abundant natural light, potted plants, a view of the Western Ghats (on a good day!) and art and personal objects collected over the last few years have all come together. We couldn’t ask for a better workplace. Picture attached.

Your favorite work tool

My Moleskine and my fountain pen. Writing lists by hand is how I stay productive.

What is currently on your work table?

A sketchpad and a pencil. Having something always at hand, to scribble ideas, thoughts, sketches in, is important to my work process.

What is your personal favorite pick from your label right now? And why?

I have been wearing Ela’s Ila shirt in handwoven linen a lot lately because it is so comfortable and translates into the perfect accessory for work meetings- I feel so good wearing it. It is a versatile piece that pairs beautifully with almost every trouser in my wardrobe. The chambray hue makes it a classic that you can pair with anything in your wardrobe.

What are your displaying at the By Hand, From The Heart.

Our participation in BHFTH coincides with our one year anniversary so this is a very special time of the year for us. We will be displaying our entire collection at BHFTH, with new pieces added to it, including our soon-to-be-launched Menswear capsule collection at BHFTH, which has only been released till now at Viakerala stores in Kochi and hasn’t been released on our own channels yet.

Meet the Maker @
25th edition:  By Hand From The Heart Makers Market
8 – 9 – February 2019 | Friday – Saturday | 10 a.m – 9 p.m
Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park, (old Adyar Gate Hotel)
132, T.T.K Road, Alwarpet, Chennai – 600018, India.

Follow us on : Facebook Event Page | Facebook | Instagram | Blog