Our Story
In the heart of Hyderabad, a beautiful story unfolds. A tale that interweaves sustainability with tradition and empowerment with passion.
Welcome to Kritikala,
Where every thread tells a story of hope and every stitch echoes a dream.
At Kritikala, we take pride in crafting sustainable apparel and lifestyle products, each uniquely echoing the aspirations of the empowered women from Hyderabad's low-income communities. The women artisans work hard and use their creativity to bring to life products that are functional, aesthetically captivating and kind to your pockets.
Everytime you purchase from us or share our story, you make a direct impact on the lives of our women artists.
INTERWOVEN WITH LOCAL TEXTILES
The soul of Kritikala lies in the rich textiles we incorporate - Ikat, Mangalagiri cotton, and the vibrant Kalamkari cotton, locally sourced from our region. Occasionally, we infuse festive zest with fabrics like Linen or Chanderi. As we celebrate these fabrics, we also embrace the rural artisans who spin these tales on looms, making the Indian textile tableau so richly diverse.
HANDMADE PRODUCTS
Every hand-made product from Kritikala not only stands as a testament to quality but also ensures a fair livelihood to both the maker of the product and the weaver who creates the fabric used for the product.
Women run the show
Kritikala brand is owned and led by a team of women artisans guided by Himani, the founder of Kritikala. The production coordination, supervision, cutting of garments, quality checking - all these important roles are done by women who have learnt the skills during their time here. All profits or surplus are distributed back to the artisans in proportion to their effort contributed over the year.
Kriti Social Initiatives:
Our Work Beyond Kritikala
Our journey with these women doesn't just begin and end with creating products . At our dedicated training centres, we help them hone their skills, be it in tailoring or intricate hand embroidery. Beyond these tangible skills, we nurture their spirit, engaging them in discussions ranging from gender roles to mental well-being and from health to their rights. To us, empowerment isn't just a word. It's a continuous journey that leads these women towards making strategic life choices.
Join us, be a part of this journey. Embrace a world where tradition meets transformation.
Our Team
HIMANI GUPTA
Himani Gupta is the Director of Kritikala. The Kritikala brand has emerged out of the not-for-profit organization, Kriti Social Initiatives, started by Himani in 2009. Initially Kriti was doing tailoring and hand embroidery training for women to teach them skills and become economically active. But after the training, the women asked for market linkages to be able to sell their products. That is how the Kritikala brand started and they started with making simple products like jute bags and patchwork bedspreads.
Himani is the force behind planning styles and collections; driving sales strategies and channels; strategizing for growth and keeping the team motivated. Recruitment, approving designs, managing people issues – all aspects of the business are ultimately her responsibility and she manages it all with great passion and elan. She is driven by her passion to help women become economically independent and her keen interest in the crafts and textiles of our country.
Himani holds a B Tech degree from BITS Pilani and has done her MBA from the prestigious Said Business School, Oxford University
SHRISTY KUMARI
Shristy graduated from NIFT in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in fashion design. Her passion for working with sustainable clothing brands inspired her to join Kritikala in May 2016.
Shristy is the production and design head at Kritikala. She designs new products and selects fabrics, trims, embroidery, colours, style for each product and supervises the making up of sample garments. Shristy ensures that the designs appeal to customers, are unique and comfortable.
Shristy ensures that the production runs smoothly and coordinates with the different vendors for whom our unit undertakes bulk production.
SAI PAVAN
Sai Pavan graduated from CBIT in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He completed a 3 months course in Digital marketing and E-commerce after joining Kritikala in April 2023. At Kritikala, he works as a Digital Marketing and E-commerce executive.He is responsible for managing ecommerce orders and all the backend activities that keeps our website updated and relevant. And running digital marketing campaigns in social media platforms. escribe a product, share announcements, or welcome customers to your store.
JASHWANT
Jashwanth currently pursuing degree in BSc from Khairtabad govt college, Hyderabad. And he also works in Kritikala. He is responsible for managing E-commerce orders and sales and backend activities that keeps our products stock updated and relevant. Jaswanth participates in exhibitions to sell our product's and promotes our Kritikala brand