About Us
Imli dana is an independent textile studio with a focus towards generational textile techniques and celebrating its labor. Using hand knitting and patchwork techniques to make carefully curated, meticulously sewn pieces, imli dana brings to you alternate textiles and objects made from regenerative materials and fabric scraps that will last you a lifetime and more.
(Photo by Cheryl Mukherji)
About the Founder
Shradha Kochhar (b. Delhi, India) is a textile artist and knitwear designer based in New York. Best known for her home spun and hand knitted ‘khadi’ sculptures using ‘kala cotton’ - an inherently organic cotton strain indigenous to India, her work is at an intersection of material memory, sustainability and intergenerational healing. Focusing on generating a physical archive of personal and collective south asian narratives linked to women’s work, invisible labor and grief, her work is large scale and will exist beyond whispers over generations.
Building on her years of experience at LOTA India, Tory Burch, Collina Strada and Marshall Columbia, she's the founder at Imli Dana --- a South Asian owned and operated shop aiming to reclaim generational textile practices and materials.
The Team
Currently, we operate as a very very small team with Shradha, Fida, Mallika and Bharat as the makers of all pieces at Imli Dana. All pieces are made by hand either in New York or Delhi.
Process
Imli Dana uses textile waste from garment manufacturing factories in Delhi, India as it's raw material that is curated, cleaned, assembled and sewn meticulously using patchwork techniques.
Some pieces are crocheted and knitted by hand between Shradha and Mallika (her maternal grandmother). They both collectively work on every crocheted piece between Delhi and New York.
(Making of the Mallika Asymmetric Top)
(Making of the BAGESH bag)
(Making of the ANGOOR crochet lace Tank)
A continued partnership of 4 years, Fida Hussain continues to sew all your patchwork shirts in Delhi, India.
(Making of the PINTU Shirt)