Invitation to The Shop’s Spring Summer Collection, ‘Malmal Mela’ on April 26th and 27th, 2024 at The Folly, Amethyst, Whites Road, Royapettah, Chennai

The Shop, established in 1969 by Kamal Singh and Preminder Singh, is a family-run business dedicated to crafting items that enhance the beauty of everyday life. Our inspiration stems from traditional textiles, honoring individuality, and embracing the essence of living in a sacred environment.

For over five decades, we have drawn inspiration from indigenous textiles and crafts to create products that embody a blend of traditional designs and modern aesthetics. Our skilled artisans infuse each piece with mindfulness, resulting in unique offerings that enrich the concept of beautiful living.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Our ethos centers around advocating for a life of beauty and appreciating the smallest wonders that enrich our daily experiences. We are committed to embodying values such as solidarity, cooperation, curiosity, creativity, diversity, and sustainability.

OUR WORKSHOP

Our workshop embraces organic materials and spacious, sunlit areas to inspire artists and designers. We handle most tasks in-house, including dyeing, printing, embroidering, quilting, and textile design, employing eco-friendly methods like rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging for sustainable production.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT

For decades, our work ethos has been rooted in traditional, environmentally conscious practices. To reduce our global footprint, we utilize solar-heated water for dyeing, harvest rainwater for reuse and groundwater recharge, and treat all production effluents responsibly. Our construction methods focus on indigenous materials and traditional techniques, such as white-washing walls with lime and cow dung (gobar). Atriums in our building foster a well-lit, airy workspace with gardens, promoting a pollution-free environment and connecting us with nature.

OUR STORES

In the past fifty years, The Shop has evolved significantly. Beginning as a single store in Delhi, we have expanded across cities like Mumbai, Noida, Meharchand Market in South Delhi, and Gurgaon. Our reach now extends to international markets through exports. Recently, we’ve launched new outlets in Bangalore and Kochi, along with a presence in the Museum of Goa and a permanent store in Panjim and Sangolda. Our store, The Attic in Connaught Place, showcases treasures from previous seasons, offering valued discoveries to our clientele. Additionally, we achieved a milestone with the inauguration of our Workroom in Gurgaon, specializing in bespoke interior designs.

OUR SOCIAL COMMITMENT

We adhere to local laws concerning minimum wage, child labor, workplace safety, and prevention of sexual harassment. Our commitment to employee satisfaction includes various support measures and benefits such as alternate Saturdays off, company-sponsored team trips, interest-free emergency loans, and assistance during family emergencies. As a result, many of our employees have been with us for over 25 years. Our supervisory and some managerial roles are often filled from within our talented and experienced workforce. We are proud to have second-generation staff members who have chosen to continue their careers in our familiar and supportive workspace.

DESIGN

We deliver two collections a year – Spring/Summer & Fall/Winter. Pop-up stores in Frankfurt and Paris as a part of trade fairs – Heimtextil, Ambiente, Trade shows, NY NOW, and IIGF are also an annual ritual. Our design team actively works to bring fresh ideas into the market. We print our own CADs. A fully equipped sampling department ensures that each new style and print is tried out for quality and viability before it is introduced into the market.

PRODUCT RANGE

We have a wide product range that consists of Home, Kitchen, Women’s Clothing, Men’s Clothing, Kids Wear, Stoles, Toys, Accessories, Bags, and You Care Products.

DYEING

Our dyeing department is equipped with fabric dyeing jigger machines that can handle large widths and huge quantities of fabrics. Experimentation with dyeing techniques such as ombre, shibori, sponging, and marbling combined with rich color fastening techniques helps us produce fabrics with vibrant colors and unique designs.

SCREEN PRINTING

Prints are our specialty. Our screen printing division is fully equipped to deliver top-notch color definition and quality prints, including pigment and discharge printing. We excel in creating intricate patterns and layouts, managing up to 48 screens per design. All our tables are heated for optimal quality and color fastness. With our in-house computer and hand artwork capabilities, along with a dedicated screen exposing section, we minimize turnaround time for samples.

BLOCK PRINTING

Our block printing section allows us to experiment with traditional prints and create smaller print runs.

SURFACE EMBELLISHMENT

We employ craftspeople who are skilled at a wide range of surface embellishment work -beadwork, zardozi, hand knotting, stonework, and sequin work. We also continue to experiment with newer techniques from time to time.

HAND EMBROIDERY

We produce hand-embroidered products with experienced craftspeople working with Kantha, Chicken work, Chain, Hand quilting, Aari, and many other techniques.

MACHINE EMBROIDERY

Our expert craftsmen can produce intricate designs with a number of different stitches, techniques, and materials. We have Chicken & Aari (crewel) embroidery machines and use wool, cotton, or silk thread.

APPLIQUE & PATCHWORK

Our unique patchwork are bright, colorful, and sophisticated. They are created using a range of techniques and fabrics by our skilled artisans.

PRODUCTION

Operating out of production units at NOIDA (India), we have streamlined the production process to minimize overheads, maximize output, and focus on quality. Our factories are equipped with the latest machinery to suit our customers’ needs.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Our Quality Assurance team is independent of the production department. We inspect all fabric and accessories at the Greige, dyed, and printed stages and have stringent final checking standards to ensure that finished products going to our customers are of the highest standard.

FINISHING

Washing – Industrial washing machines, Hydro extractors, and drying tumblers ensure that products are washed to the highest international standards.

Ironing – Steam Irons with vacuum tables to give the best finish possible.

Finishing & Packing – Every piece is checked and packed to provide the best quality.

YOU CARE

Our YOU CARE project is a conscious undertaking and unique range where we transform every bit of our stunning prints into beautiful products, respecting our craft people’s efforts and our earth. We try to upcycle all our fabric waste using innovative and green solutions. We create recyclable products, use excess fabric to create assorted pieces of great aesthetic and economic value, and are committed to the use of natural fibers alone to strive for a more sustainable future.