User:Ketayun, Katz/sandbox/Anokhi, Jaipur

= ANOKHI, JAIPUR = Anokhi is a famous Indian fashion house operating out of Jaipur, Rajasthan and specialising in block printed, ready-to-wear clothing, soft furnishings and accessories. Anokhi’s prime objectives are those of conservation and development, through the input of design, marketing and project funding. The company is well known as an alternative role model for good business practices, and the ongoing revival of traditional textile skills.

At one level, the story of Anokhi — the word means ‘remarkable’ or ‘unique’ — is an account of how a successful apparel label was literally created block-by-wooden block. At another, it is all about the revival of Rajasthan's tradition of hand block-printing. But the most important aspect of the Anokhi story, perhaps, is that it offers a viable business model for the revival of India's traditional crafts. For, the Anokhi experience proves that it is possible to run a successful craft-based business using traditional techniques to meet contemporary tastes, thus ensuring that the craft lives on while providing a livelihood for the men and women involved in the craft.

HISTORY
Faith Singh, the daughter of British missionaries, had come to India with the aim of buying fabrics to sell at home in England. While in India she met Jitendra Pal (John) Singh, a Rajput, who had come back to Jaipur after a stint in the tea gardens of Assam. They got married and set up home in the Pink City of Jaipur.

John and Faith decided to support the textiles created by the local craftsmen when they realised that the long-established art of hand block printing and the use of vibrant, natural dyes was fast vanishing and the artisans were leaving behind a centuries old tradition to look elsewhere for their basic survival.

Anokhi was established in 1969 in a garage with a printer and a few tailors. The company was started with the express purpose of rejuvenating and revitalizing this dying art form and in the early years, the focus was primarily on reviving Rajasthan's traditional techniques of hand block-printing that had lost local relevance, while simultaneously creating products for Western audiences out of the local craft tradition.

It was in 1973 that Anokhi really took off after the Hollywood actress Jane Seymour was photographed for Vogue magazine, posing amid hand block printed textiles while doing a photo shoot for the James Bond film ‘Live and Let Die.’ Immediately the shops selling Anokhi became trendy and the fashionistas could not have enough of handblock prints.

Meanwhile, the brand started developing its own repertoire of block designs, and ventured into doing its own research and development. This process was driven by the desire to keep the craft relevant by constantly innovating and also to actually show the craftsmen that new designs were possible.

As Anokhi revitalised the craft of hand block-printing, it also evolved its own philosophy of business built on values such as `fair trade', `openness' and `taking care of people'.

In 1996 Faith and John Singh retired and handed over the business to their son Pritam Singh and his wife Rachel Bracken-Singh.

THE ANOKHI MUSEUM OF HAND BLOCK PRINTS
John and Faith had bought Chanwar Palkiwalon ki Haveli, a crumbling mansion near the Amber Fort, in the 1970s and in 1989 they set about restoring it. The role played by trained architects was kept to a minimum and the chief mason was given a free hand allowing him to use traditional techniques and materials similar to those originally used in the haveli. Within three years the haveli was restored to its original grandeur using indigenous materials, time-honoured construction methods and skilled artisans.

The restoration of the haveli attracted and employed many local craftsmen and it encouraged other owners in the town to attempt restoration of their own property, land was no longer being made easily available for builders and the entire exercise led to the awakening of a sense of pride among the people. Queries to do similar restoration work in other monuments began pouring in and the haveli became a hallmark in restoration techniques in Jaipur. The project was awarded by UNESCO as a Project of Excellence in 2000.

After completion of the Chanwar Palkiwalon Ki Haveli restoration it remained unused until 2007 when it was converted to the Anokhi Museum of Hand Block Printing by Pritam and Rachel.

The museum supports an ongoing research programme to study block printing, particularly select regions of northern India. There is an increasing emphasis on not only detailing technical processes, but also capturing the artisan’s memories and the stories embedded in the cloth.

THE ANOKHI CAFÉ
Along with the museum came the idea for starting a café that offers organically grown food with an international flavour. The food served at the café was to be made of the produce grown on the Anokhi farm. In October, 2005 the company opened the Anokhi Café adjoining the Jaipur shop. New and exotic vegetables were introduced on the farm and are now included in the menu. The Café has become a famous tourist spot and a favourite local hangout for, both, its ambience and food.

REFERENCES AND EXTERNAL LINKS
http://www.anokhi.com/

http://www.anokhi.com/museum/home.html

http://anokhicafe.com/

http://www.anokhi.com/anokhi/our-shops.html

http://www.anokhi.com/anokhi/contact-us.html