Bihu Collection of Cushion Covers- Why is to special to us?

I recently did a post on Instagram where I explained in short why our collection of cushion covers is so special to us? I am not going to lie but selling them on buy one get one free is not something we envisioned when we launched it and I definitely didn’t want to do it.

So firstly, why are these cushion covers special or even important to us?

Having worked as head home furnishing & décor for an ecommerce major made me learn that cushion covers SELL but there is a huge competition. Everyone and I seriously mean everyone does cushion covers. Be it a small company, a big exporter like Spaces or even a sarojni nagar (a very popular thrift market in Delhi) vendor. I alone used to handle around 10,000 skus of cushions on our website and this was when we were slightly ‘curated’ so you can imagine the no. of products on Amazon or a Flipkart. Not drifting from the topic, there’s no dearth of cushion cover designs available in the market and most you’ll find repetitive hence the challenge in doing something truly ‘unique’.

In the search of finding that uniqueness, I met someone from Assam handling the weavers of the region. He was doing a variety of products like cushions, bedsheets, scarves etc. The moment I saw these designs I absolutely loved them. My husband (he is truly the backbone of our company but prefers to stay behind the curtain) also loved these. They were undoubtedly unique, had a flair of their own and were so distinctive. On hearing more about the cushions and the hardwork that goes behind them, I had pretty much made my mind that this will be our first ‘collection’. Some of you might not read the entire paragraph of my yap yap so highlighting why they are so loved by us:

1. Use of 100% organic cotton- you touch the fabric and you’ll realise its not your everyday cotton.
2. Use of tassar ghicha silk- this is the raw silk found only in the jungles of the east. Thus the texture is not as fine as eri or the shiny silk you get in shops
3. Naturally dyed- All our cushions are naturally dyed hence they cannot be handwashed. Natural dyes are highly susceptible to discoloration as we haven’t used any chemicals in the dyes so they tend to fade quickly. The best and safest is to dry clean them.
4. Traditional designs- All the designs of the cushions are special and feature assamese designs. Like the one horned rhino (native to Assam) or the bihu dance (native to Assam). Even the birds or knots/designs used are unlike any
5. Finishing- All the cushion covers come with zipper closing which I swear is very hard to break. Often I have found zips of such cushions very weak and they tend to break easily but not ours. High quality zips and stitching to avoid such mishaps
6. Handloom- How many times can you own a piece which is painstakingly handloomed by women weavers on the old style handloom machine? It takes days to craft one piece and having witnessed in person, I can surely say its no joke and deserves all the praise

Just look at the backside of the cushions- the beautiful weaving from the inside! 

You’ll think if these cushions are so unique and beautiful, why are we selling them as buy one get one free?  Well obviously we didn’t want to sell them as buy one get one in the beginning or even recently. The collection is so close to our hearts and so expensive for us to source that buy one get one was something we never envisioned.

However in India, there is a very small fraction of people who appreciate handloom with its cost. Yes! You can deny but its true. I know everyone loves handloom products be it sarees, cushions or scarves but when it comes to paying the price for it, no one is willing mainly because of much cheaper alternatives available in the market in the form of DIGITAL PRINTED cushions. They’re insanely cheap, have tonnes of design (you can get your face printed, what more do you want) and readily available.

All I can say is, buying handloom is like investing in art. Its an investment, can be passed onto generations and have a story to tell. I bet you cant tell a story about a random digital printed cushion in some small press in India (believe me, I have nothing against people who like digital printed stuff but please please DON’T compare the two). Handloom weaving is a masterpiece and NOT MADE IN CHINA.

Love,

T