One of the most interesting things about Ohrna’s work is our presence in India, one of the world’s most multicultural and multilingual countries.
For NY NOW this year, we have focused our collection on two fabrics, ikkat and bandhni, combined with our trademark kantha embroidery on jute.
Ikkat, isa style of weaving dyed fabrics, that is widespread in southern and eastern India and is rapidly becoming popular globally.
And the other is the traditional tie-dye bandhnistyle from India’s western and northwestern desert regions, with its vibrant colors, has made our product line richer and more vibrant!
Besides our explorations with fabrics, we’ve innovated with our products as well.
Last year we debuted our new ‘harmony’ pattern at NY NOW, as a culmination and symbol of who we are. They depict the harmony between trees, birds, animals and people. We had applied this theme and pattern to our set of 4 cushions, using 4 traditional motifs of kantha embroidery. This year we have taken that forward into designing a silk stole with many more motifs, all tribal and traditional that are a hallmark of embroidery from Bengal in India.
Be sure to look these up in our booth #1076.
Our ethnic backpack combining a kantha-embroidered 2 color jute with the rich ikkat and bandni, and a faux leather strap was selected for the ‘Destination: New’ exhibit at NY NOW.
Don’t miss our display at the ‘Sustainability: Design for a Better World’ exhibit! It is our very own upcycled sari packaging that customers asked for and so we made into a product offering this year.
We love these vibrant fabrics so much, that we also launched table napkins in the kkat and bandhni fabrics this year, as an alternative to dull monochrome napkins at the table.
Besides this, we have added to our product family of pouches, by designing a coin pouch, a pencil pouch, a laptop sleeve and a gift card pouch, which happens to be a collaborative design effort with our client.
We hope you will come visit us in New York, to help us continue this conversation and join us on our journey!
Ohrna believes in responsible design. Our focus is use of sustainable materials, employment of rural women, preservation of rich craft traditions and packaging in up cycled materials.
We train for free and often employ women with minimum skills. We design to customers' needs and also constantly adapt our designs for ease of making, for our makers. Most of our artisans are from Mann Deshi Foundation.