Witnessing Craft in Motion | Handwoven Stories from West Bengal

Our day began at 3 a.m. in New Delhi. After a short flight to Kolkata and a five-hour drive through rice fields and small towns, we finally arrived at Burdwan, West Bengal; to visit the weavers we've been collaborating with for the past five years.

Welcomed warmly by our master weaver and his family, we shared meals, stories and saw glimpses into their everyday life. Over the next two days we watched as our designs, CADs and spec sheets were translated into their system and local language—simplified, reimagined and brought to life in threads and colors.

From hand-dyeing yarn in small batches, starching and drying it under open skies, to warping it on giant wooden rollers and passing each thread through the loom—every step is a testament to patience, skill and care. Preparing a single loom over a week and each weaver produces about 3 meters of fabric a day. These trips remind us that designing on paper is only part of the story; it's the hands behind the work that make it come alive.