we are closing the loop on post-consumer denim, here in vadodara. it started at a friday market, where the denim was bought by the pile. local dhobis washed it, and the work went to tailors across the city, who cut and stitched it into 1,050 bags for everyday use, with as little waste as we could manage.
form followed function: each bag was shaped by what it needs to do, and each jean decided its size. in the spirit of wabi-sabi, details worth keeping stayed with the bag.
the next stage is reaching the people who will carry them. that stage needs support.
kshiiteej was started by mehul. after a working life in marketing in mumbai, he retired to vadodara, funded the work himself and built a small upcycling chain around post-consumer denim.
how the 1,050 were made → read our storythe chain is short, and all of it sits in vadodara.
a local scrap dealer at shukarwari, the city's friday market for old and antique things, sells denim by the pile. it is sorted at the studio, washed by local dhobis, and cut and stitched by tailors across the city. hardware comes from the old city markets.
we do not draw a bag first and look for denim to fit it. the jean decides the bag.
approximately, on average
current inventory details
made
placed with an ngo
in vadodara, being sorted
bags finished with unique ids for drop 01
making is one kind of work. carrying is another.
01 . circular making can live in a city's everyday places. a friday market, a dhobi, a tailor's shop: post-consumer denim can travel from one to the next and come out as something useful.
02 . the material leads. when the jean decides the bag, no two bags are the same. that is the wabi-sabi in it, and it also means each bag needs its own story told.
03 . an upcycled bag comes from a way of thinking that does not begin with buying more. carrying one means questioning a few habits: what we buy, why, and what we already own. that is a shift in mindset, and it does not happen at a shop counter.
04 . so making a bag and carrying it to people are two different kinds of work. the first is done. the second needs its own people, time and means: stories, content, videos and conversations that carry the idea further than the bag can. a bag can carry groceries. an idea needs carrying of its own.
every bag is being sorted into three grades.
a . use it: sold or used as it is. for the bags in hand now, the process shapes the aesthetic.
b . remake it: reworked by artists and designers.
c . reimagine it: reworked into something new by artists and designers.
future runwaydenim as a canvas
denim as a canvas invites artists and designers to play with the denim: grade b and c bags now, and future stock too, including designing from scratch.
every bag will be used, remade or reimagined. only the final offcuts go to recycling.
if this work feels worth carrying forward, here is where you come in.
ask 01 . take the current stock
for ngos and businesses. the bags are in hand now, for your people, your events or your work.
ask 02 . fund the next stage
for foundations and grant-makers, and csr through a csr-1 registered ngo partner. the next stage has two parts: carrying the bags to people, through stories, presence, pop-ups and outreach, and denim as a canvas.
ask 03 . make with us
for artists, designers and makers. rework grade b and c bags, or design from scratch with future stock.
if any of this speaks to you, write to us or send a message. tell us which ask you are answering, or simply say hello.