AOW Insider | Interview with Chinar Farooqui of INJIRI

This month, I am delighted to interview Chinar Farooqui, founder of INJIRI, one of my personal fave artisanal brands. The company works with artists in India to create exquisite home decor and apparel. Their attention to detail will make you swoon – their products are delicate, chic, thoughtful and timeless.

They speak about their products with grace and don't try too hard. Their belief in what they do shines through in the natural voice of their marketing communication. They dig into techniques, materials, and design – always accompanied with beautiful photography. They celebrate the beauty within the hand-woven and handcrafted textiles they create and their clothing are "little stories about the textiles they are made of." I love this. 

For those of you who are stuck, not knowing what to do or where to turn, perhaps this can give you a bit of inspiration...a new way to look at your own brands and all of the incredible stories you have yet to tell! See below to read more! Enjoy.

For those who aren’t familiar, can you tell us a bit about your brand, and what distinguishes you from others selling textiles from India?

Injiri was founded in 2009 as an idea to use traditional weaving practices to create contemporary work in garments and home textiles. The kind of work I developed was mostly inspired by local aesthetics – deep-rooted in Indian tradition – but the products worked more in the international market.

The main idea of the brand was to create a wide network of artisan relationships and to work only with hand-loom, where most processes can be done by hand. The creative force behind the design development has been my fine arts background in painting which taught me to look at surfaces in a different way.

Now when I look back, the most important aspect of my working methodology was the fact that injiri was a space created to design and develop high-quality textiles without worrying about the marketability or profitability of the business. That helped us at every stage of our work.

We’re seeing more and more the importance of storytelling in product marketing, especially during the current market challenges. You have been strong at storytelling all along. How are you changing your approach to fit with the times? 

Probably yes this will be a very difficult phase for most brands that will force us to tell more stories about how we do what we do so people will respond to our product. But personally, I do not feel like I am forced to think about this. I feel that this phase will allow us to slow down our pace of making, producing, designing, and selling. And that in some ways is good for the brand because we were moving too fast.

I am comfortable with the pause that has been enforced upon us. Of course, the challenge is sustaining the artisan communities as they are used to weaving certain amounts of fabrics every month for us. Supporting so many people – which we took for granted – will not be easy. But that will also sort itself slowly.

Other than this responsibility I am not so scared of the slowdown. Regarding storytelling as a marketing tool, it is a more personal journey that I love to share with people who have been seeing my work. And due to the slowdown, I will find more time to share the stories of my work at injiri which I would love to do.

What tips do you have for others who are working with artists when it comes to storytelling?

To you it may seem I am a great storyteller but to tell you the reality, I have no idea what works and what does not. I am not sure if storytelling sets my brand apart. If it does, I am not so aware of it.

I think what sets businesses apart is the strength of work, quality of design, innovation in techniques, truthfulness in one's own work and beliefs, love for their craft, and pride in one’s heritage. There is a small element of luck as well, but mostly good work and persistent efforts is the key to success. The key ingredient is honesty in talking about one’s faith and beliefs.

Strong photography is also very important in the presentation of any work.

As an industry leader, where have you seen the most success from your marketing efforts? With that in mind, what do you wish you had known when you first started? 

What has worked best for the brand is timing. In 2009 when I launched injiri there were not very many brands working with handlooms. The idea of sustainability in fashion did not exist at the forefront. Now it is an entire movement. Being much older helps the brand in the industry. We have never done any PR or advertising of any kind. Meeting good people at the right time has been the key to the success of the brand. Agents, photographers, filmmakers, craftsmen, production supervisors, you name it – all these people came one after another and made things happen for injiri.  

We have had slow, organic growth. We have built a customer base by word-of-mouth and having good people we work with.

 I am very happy with what we have been able to achieve. In fact, I feel I was ignorant of many things before I started working – I had no background in business. I set out with the ambition of being able to support the crafts of India. I did not know marketing or administration – I learned things over the years and have no regrets of any kind.

 I realize clients want new, new, new. What is your strategy when developing new products to add excitement, yet not overdoing it and creating too much work for the artists and yourselves?

 Yes, there is constant demand for newness which is fulfilled by us in our creative capacity. Making sure there is newness is an important part of textiles. Having said that people have been buying the same designs for many years as well because they find it working for them. From a brand like us, there is not as great an expectation for new because most of the buyers are aware that we work with the same set of artisans. Technique becomes pretty much constant as we change colors and textures every year.

 Any tips regarding price points that have worked well?

Pricing is tricky as it really depends on what your aim is. If you are looking at selling numbers, price points need to be carefully thought through whereas if you’re not worried about numbers you can choose to be more expensive. Also, if design development has gone into the development, the product is bound to be more expensive. 

Any other sales channels that have been working?

We sell mostly wholesale but do plan to have a small retail avenue for direct customers to make our work more accessible.

 Do you do any custom work?

We do many custom projects as it is fun to collaborate. 

Are you still able to run your business during the current slowdown? What are some ways you are coping to maintain your wholesale clients in the US, Europe, and beyond?

We are currently in a state of complete lockdown. All work has stopped. Since the US and Europe are also in a difficult state there is absolutely no work with wholesale. We have no idea if the orders already with us will be shipped at all. Wholesale businesses have retail spaces that are severely affected and therefore we will wait to see how things go. 

I realize the future is uncertain but what are you working on to get through these difficult times?

Things will not be the same and should not be the same. We need to produce less, sell less, and supply less. We consume too much. We should think about not supporting mill-made fabric production or mill-made food production. We should support handmade textiles, handmade clothes, and locally-grown food. This lockdown made us question if we really need so much! Other than these thoughts I am only thinking about ways to support my network of weavers.

For more info, visit: https://www.injiri.co.in/