BENGALURU:  It’s always good to count your blessing but it takes conviction to use your privileges to help others. Nikhila Reddy is an example of this philosophy. With many tailors losing their livelihood due to the pandemic, Reddy started an initiative to help them by creating her brand Swedle, to sell apparels made of handloom fabrics flaunting traditional crafts like kalamkari and ikat. 

Reddy was moved to launch the business when a tailor living near her house came to her to check if there are any work that he could do to support himself, since he was getting no business. Although Reddy’s family tried to help him with orders, it was a limited effort. The 23-year-old engineering graduate, whose family runs a business of importing and exporting fabrics, then decided to make use of the leftover fabrics they had, and get it stitched into shorts.

“I spread the word among my friends and they started placing orders. Meanwhile, even other tailors started getting in touch with me for work,” says Reddy, who began the exercise on a smaller scale in April. As demand started increasing, she took this to social media under the brand, Swedle. Ask her what it means, and she laughs, “Sewdle is short for ‘Sew’ing and ‘Nee’dle.” Reddy has until now fulfilled over 100 orders. Though she started with selling shorts, she has now included other garments too.

“Shorts are the easiest thing to make, since they do not require much fitting sessions and I thought Kalamkari shorts look cute too,” she says. Each pair costs around Rs 350-450.  The brand is not making any profit yet, but with the growing demand, Reddy is planning to take it forward. “I am planning to expand to more rich Indian textiles and multifarious designs, be it shorts, frocks or kurta. Our Indian heritage is beautiful, so why not explore and embrace it.

I also plan to build an app to make bespoke tailoring easy, approachable and affordable for everyone,” says Reddy, who completed her engineering from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology and is currently helping her mother with the business. The family moved to Bengaluru from Delhi five years back after  Reddy’s father retired from the Air Force. Each product is manufactured and customised based on the customer’s requirement. “We avoid bulk production for retail because even though it may cost slightly less per product, it’s not the best thing to do for the environment,” says Reddy, who is also trying to cut down on the textile waste.