She Pleased the Mayor of London, Now Surabhi will Please You with Her Design Skills
Since its launch in January this year, RevivedbySurabhi is shaping up to be a destination for premium art and craft using old techniques like papier mâché.
The Ghaziabad-based home décor design label focuses on reviving old traditional techniques while celebrating the power of hand making.
RevivedbySurabhi is the creation of Surabhi Mittal, a lover of artistic experimentation. During her final year of post-graduation, Surabhi undertook a project to reviving a socially dead material called papier mâché. It sparked an interest in a high-value yet low-cost art form. There was no looking back thereafter. In order to showcase what the craft could achieve on a wider scale, she began her design label taking inspiration from Kashmiri skills and traditions for papier mâché on decorative objects like vases, lamps, centrepieces and collectibles.
Here’s more on RevivedbySurabhi from Surabhi Mittal.
As a very new entrepreneur we know so little about you. Tell us a little about your artistic experience and how you came to love papier mâché
My undergraduate degree in product design comes from Central St Martins, University of Arts London. Not only did it equip me with technical proficiency, but also gave me access to a global design vocabulary, and the wherewithal to explore my own idioms within it.
As a first time, new age entrepreneur and product designer, I wanted to expand my business in craft revival with budget and performance-efficient materials, and environmental suitability to increase durability, control depreciation, and thereby reduce the carbon footprint of our productions.
In addition, creating socially responsible business opportunities for Indian craftspersons is one of my objectives, so that the legacy and livelihoods of the keepers of our traditions are protected.
Let’s be honest – is this more a business or a personal hobby?
‘The beauty we love be what we do’ is exactly what I have pursued with. Thus, while researching my final year project at CSM, I tapped into my knowhow of various design and marketing components to showcase the sociological imagination and impact of local traditions on the British institution of tea drinking. The craftsmanship in the cast brass and papier-mâché tea set with their delicately cast borders and hand embossed accents, was shortlisted by the Mayor of London for the International Students Innovation Awards, reinforcing my belief that India’s indigenous ageless art and craft traditions can emerge as front runners in our race for design solutions with some repurposing and innovative marketing. My initiative was also shortlisted by Sirius, a UK based non-profit, as one of the best innovative business ideas from a pool of 70 countries.
Our ambition is to position our products as luxurious while maintaining affordability and profitability. Our prices start at 200 rupees and goes beyond 20,000 rupees to capture the interest of the more seasoned and interested connoisseurs.
That brings us to the question, who is your typical customer?
RevivedBySurabhi is for those who appreciate art and have an aesthetic sense to appreciate it. My venture mostly focuses on high class sophisticated people who love to buy luxurious products to make their home vibrant and beautiful.
And as your final message tell us: Why should such arts be revived and kept alive?
Keeping traditions alive is important to encourage our country’s artisans and to promote collaborative relationships with ace craftsmen. As a business it’s producing the most complex art, most special design is how you will retain customers.
Reviving such art is also about love and happiness. Our vision at RevivedbySurabhi is to pioneer in reviving of arts and to continue to please and fascinate customers through the beauty of our handmade products prepared with love.
