How our collaboration revives Indian traditions

No discovery without curiosity

Comments from Jordan Maurin, creative and brand content manager

"A few years ago, I confused linen and cotton with my eyes wide open. As novice as one could be and yet convinced that clothing had more to offer than what we were served in clothing stores. 'entry level.

It was at this time that BonneGueule told me “my guy, you’re not at the end of your surprises. Grab a seat, a coffee and we'll talk. »

I discovered the rich beauty of Japanese materials and soon all others. A great shiver down my spine. It was of course a turning point in my learning about beautiful clothing. And today it is at the heart of my job.

But clothing is like anything else; by seeing the extraordinary, the mind ends up finding it banal.

Last year, the need to rediscover this great thrill must have become more pressing. It took me to the East.

I saw Indian textiles as a new personal Eldorado. Fabrics so textured, so slubbed, that the Japanese would have paled. Patterns so subtle and colors so beautiful that I wanted more. If the Japanese were the champions of controlled imperfection, the Indians were even closer to craftsmanship. Closer to what the hand could do best.

And there was a brand that I felt we had an affinity with… it was Kardo.”

"I loved their stylistic proposals flirting with kitsch. I loved zooming in on their clothes in the product pages. Wondering what type of embroidery it could be. Noting with delight that certain patterns had a particular story. And that the brand perpetuated local know-how both in weaving and printing.

Anyway, let’s just say I was convinced. I couldn't do otherwise, I spoke a few words about it at the product center."

-Jordan Maurin,

Meeting around a story written… on a shirt

Comments from Benoît, co-founder of BonneGueule

“June 2022, Pitti.

This is where we meet Rikki, the founder of Kardo , at the bend of the many paths of Pitti."

“More precisely, an incredible shirt catches our eye, with many patterns sewn on it, which requires painstaking work because it is made by hand.”

"And there, Rikki introduces himself and tells us that he is the creator of this Indian brand and that this shirt traces the history of his family in India. A poignant story to discover in the video at the top of this article!

We find the concept brilliant and we quickly realize all the richness behind Kardo, especially since it was a brand that Jordan had already spotted.

I was all the more attracted, because after having highlighted Japanese, Italian, French, English, Nepalese, Irish, Norwegian, American know-how, etc., India was the last textile land that we did not have not yet explored, although it presents know-how that is absolutely unique in the world, despite the bad press that Indian production can sometimes have.

It was time to delve into the history of these colorful fabrics, wood block printing and other natural dyes!

But before going into detail about the product, let's take the time to set the scene.

In a collaboration, you know that the story of the founder interests me as much as the garment itself. I like to understand who is behind a brand, what motivates them, their influences, etc.

And in Rikki’s case, I wasn’t disappointed!”

From large factories to small workshops

"It all started in 2013. At the time, Rikki already had a solid career in textiles: he placed productions for local brands in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc. He therefore had a front-row seat to see his eyes the problem of ultra fast fashion: the infernal speeds and miserable working conditions.

At the same time, to satisfy his creative desires, he makes his own clothes using the prototyping departments of the factories with which he works. And for that, he uses more or less artisanal fabrics in the printing of the patterns. Fabrics he discovered during a trip to Jaipur, it was a revelation for him."

“And to his great surprise, he is often asked where the clothes he wears come from.

He therefore decided to launch small productions and therefore essentially create a brand.

In his head, it is very clear: Kardo is the meeting of two important influences in his life:

• a British influence, with well-mastered cuts and an impeccable fit (which is not necessarily the case for brands working with artisanal materials...)
• and an Indian influence obviously, with visually strong and creative fabrics.

This is how the Kardo aesthetic was born: very colorful, honoring Indian know-how, but with clothes to wear every day."

“But Rikki does not want to return to what he left: hellish textile production in unenviable conditions.”

To do better than fast fashion, you have to slow down

"While his friends in the industry offer to place Kardo's productions in their workshops, Rikki politely refuses, because having experienced mass productions, he now wants the complete opposite: to take the time to produce each garment and give back meaning in the act of making.

And above all, he wants total control over the quality of his clothes.

He therefore found a small premises, joined forces with a master tailor, bought a sewing machine and a cutting table: the Kardo workshop was born at that moment.

Yes, Kardo is part of the very closed circle of brands that have their own in-house manufacturing workshop."

“He takes the opportunity to take the complete opposite approach to large production factories: no assembly line work, each worker sews the pieces one by one.

More precisely, production is divided into three stages:

• the cutting of the fabric, which is made with scissors and which allows for example to best connect the patterns on the pockets and the rest of the shirt. “Something almost impossible to do with a classic industrial method” Rikki tells me.
• sewing the garment, where the sections of fabric are assembled together to form the final garment. In a traditional factory, one worker will take care of assembling the collar, another the sleeves, etc. Not at Rikki, where a worker sews the entire garment, in order to have total control and involve them in the final quality.
• and the finishing part, quality control, where the grandsons are cut, the buttonholes are cleaned, etc."

“Besides, inside each Kardo garment, there is a label with the name of the worker behind each step!”

"And finally, Rikki's workers are paid monthly, and not by the piece, as is done in fast fashion factories. This involves a big change in mindset: workers are not dragged into a race to quantity, and they can take the time to make quality.

Rikki joked with me about a production manager he had hired: “he lasted three months” he told me. More precisely, he didn't understand Rikki's desire for slowness and small-scale production."

“Made in India” and proud of it

"You understand: Rikki is a fervent defender of Indian textile know-how, and he wants to put it back in the spotlight. But this was far from obvious...

Indeed, during his first professional shows, the design of his pieces was very appreciated, and when future potential buyers asked him if these pieces were made in Japan or Portugal, he replied that they were made in India. The buyers therefore immediately leave his stand, “without trying to understand, without even saying goodbye” Rikki confided to me.

While he is on the verge of placing his production in Europe to meet buyers' expectations, it is his wife (who is French!) who convinces him to strengthen his workshop in India, and to take full responsibility for it.

More precisely, it pushes it to be the first brand to proudly claim this textile know-how specific to India and to do everything to promote it and educate its audience.

Since Covid - and after ten years of existence - Rikki's hard work is finally starting to pay off in earnest, as he scoops up the most cutting-edge and recognized outlets in the world: Mr Porter, No Man Walks Alone, Beams, or even Jinji and Flâneurs in France, the list is long!

It is therefore a great honor for us to collaborate with Kardo and present its very special know-how to you."

- Benoît Wojtenka

The multi-colored Lamar shirt: behind the scenes of a saved craft

What struck me when Rikki was telling us about making these clothes was all the subtleties she allowed us to learn about hand printing and dyeing techniques. It made the term craft much more concrete for me.

For example, there is the famous wood block printing, which is an old hand printing technique. The printer, called the “Chhipa”, uses a piece of wood on which the pattern is cut. He dips it in the dye then dabs the fabric.

You could say that it's that simple, but it involves impressive rigor.

First of all, to cut the pattern into the piece of wood, you need unerring precision. First, the weight block must be polished to prepare it for carving, and then it is whitened with chalk so that it can be drawn on. Then, you have to draw the pattern on a sheet of paper and trace it. We then use this tracing, which we apply to the block of wood, to carve the pattern through it. Everything is done by hand, with simple tools, and it takes at least 6 days to create a block ready for use.
And if the craftsman misses his shot, he has to start all over again since the error will be seen on each printed square!

The other challenge is to ensure that the block can be reused with other colors, so that they do not contaminate each other. For this, the craftsmen polish the block and make it waterproof with mustard oil.

And to obtain a pattern of several colors like on our shirt, you have to stamp several layers, one for each shade, which in turn enriches the pattern with new designs. These must therefore be well superimposed so as not to create inconsistencies.

This shirt also has a close link with the very history of this technique in India, since its pattern was created by a Kardo partner who, we can say, saved this technique throughout an entire region.

The Lamar indigo shirt, or the art of mastering imperfection

To obtain this blue, the dyers dipped the fabric in natural indigo after affixing the patterns with the wooden blocks. And that involves a whole other challenge.

Here's the thing: you don't want the indigo to mix with or cover the colors of the pattern.

And here is the solution, just as artisanal: a mixture of gum and sand which helps protect the pattern, preventing the indigo pigments from altering its shades when the fabric is dipped.

Rikki talks about reverse printing. It is part of the Ajrakh printing techniques, very centered on indigo and present in the regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan. All Ajrakh dyes are based on natural substances. Mostly plants. This may seem impressive to us, but it is completely normal for the Ajrakh printers who, after dyeing, reuse the water for their farm crops.

Of course, it was impossible to immerse the fabrics of all our shirts in the same indigo bath at the same time. Each batch of shirts therefore has its own shade. This makes them all the more unique but it required a lot of verification work from Hélène, our quality manager who compared the batches with each other to ensure that the color of your shirt remains consistent with the photos you see here.

And if you wanted a unique shirt with a shade just for you, rest assured: Hélène will not be able to control the gradual fading of indigo over time. Each shirt will lighten in its own way, depending on how often you wash it and how the indigo behaves.

The Bodhi jacket, born in mother nature’s laboratory

“Laboratory” is the right word, because this tobacco color is the result of expertise in natural dyeing that Rikki finds impressive. And this laboratory is called Biodye.

Here is the entire recipe for dyeing this jacket, made by professionals and not to be reproduced at home.

Step 1: Biodye dyers bring water to a boil with Indian madder powder, called “manjishta”, for the red pigment from its roots. Then, they immerse the fabric in it. The difficulty lies in ensuring that the dye is properly impregnated, evenly and in all the corners of the reliefs of the Jacquard weave. The dyers therefore take the time to mix everything well and almost boil the fabric to facilitate the penetration of the pigments.

Step 2: they add acacia root powder, so that the red becomes a more brownish shade.

Step 3: they mix everything with iron vinegar, which unifies the two dyes and, again, helps the fabric absorb them well. This vinegar also gives a slight touch of green to the color.

Step 4: washing, where the dyers immerse the fabric in a basin with water and what is called a mordant. It is an agent which helps to fix the color and which, in our case, is made from peanuts: “harda”. It grows on Black Myrobalan, a species of tree found in India. And concretely, it gives a sort of slightly sticky paste. The Biodye dyers mix everything by hand so that the color is well fixed throughout the fabric.

Step 5: drying, for which the dyers hang the fabric on clotheslines. It seems as simple as that, but this drying requires very specific conditions. You need sun and dry air because any excess humidity will alter the color of the fabric. This is why Indian manufacturers cannot do any natural dyeing or wood block printing during the rainy season.

And as you probably suspect, this strip of fabric will not be enough to make our jackets. Especially since his hot bath made him lose around 20% of his width. The Biodye dyers therefore repeat the operation for each fabric which will take on the color differently. This results in uniform jackets overall but with slight differences in color and that's what we love about artisanal fabrics.

Two bonus surprises: our scarves to discover exclusively in store

We asked Kardo to make them from the fabrics left over after making our shirts. It limits fabric loss and allows you to energize an outfit with a touch of color, pattern and history. We know, there are some in there!

There are 50 copies to be found in our stores and they will be priced at €40. You will find our addresses here.

How can you have fun with the clothes from this collaboration?

Level 1: with white pants, it definitely works.

I'm not sure if I have a place in heaven after that rhyme, but what's certain is that you can't go wrong with our shirts and white pants. We even highly recommend it!

It's a bit like putting these patterns and colors on a blank canvas to let them fully express themselves. I find it all the nicer with the paisley version whose white weft creates an indisputable link.

Level 2: think monochrome!

Ok, it's definitely dead for heaven but you get the idea: the indigo blue shirt goes very well with the navy blue of the pants and the sage green of the paisley version goes just as well with the dark green of the shorts.

Then, simply finish the outfit with a neutral color on the feet. White sneakers or shoes black.

Level 3: layering master

For the first layer, swap the white t-shirt for a ribbed tank top. It gives a cooler spirit. You just have to make sure that the collar rises high enough to see part of it once the shirt is closed.

We put our multi-colored Lamar shirt over it, the white weave of which will form the link with the tank top.

Now you have to put on some pants. And since this shirt is also sky blue, the navy blue pants are a natural choice, see level 2. And since we're talking about shades, I imagine you've noticed the brown jacket x beige shoes combo.

Level 4: accessories are an art

Before talking about it, let's focus a little on this beautiful cohabitation between the green of the pants and the brown of the jacket.

It's good ? Ok, now the one between the gold necklace and the same brown jacket. If you're not used to jewelry and want to give it a try, think about it: gold + brown = <3.

Then, there is the scarf present here for two reasons:

1. Where the jacket focuses on texture, it rather captivates the eye with the pattern.
2. Its touches of sage green match the green of the pants.

A bit like this belt, whose dark green stands out just right from the light green.