Parul Agarwal

Parul Agarwal

Not many years ago Parul’s love for creativity brought her to IICD, from where she graduated in 2018. Her course of Fired Material design inculcated in her a social sensitivity and skilled passion for this ancient branch of Indian crafts, that has beautifully crossed over into the modern. Hailing from Azamgarh Uttar Pradesh, she grew up surrounded by Black Pottery. On her trips back home from college she would spend her holidays interacting with artisans, learning from them the techniques and processes involved in the creation of black pottery. The time she spent in this ecosystem made her increasingly aware about the lack of market understanding, innovation, intervention and support to this GI craft from Azamgarh, pushing it fast towards oblivion. Her education and attachment to this handsome craft from her hometown, and the knowledge of its ailing condition prompted in her a certain restlessness, and encouraged her to work for its rejuvenation and growth, with a fresh inventive vision.

The first and most crucial step in this direction was her decision to work with black pottery for her graduation project. On this road she had constant guidance of her mentor Mr. Mangesh Afre, the head of Fired Material Application Department at IICD. Her hard work, inquisitiveness, dedication and passion bore fruits and she successfully birthed the first Pot jewellery brand of India, KABBISH. Building a brand, exploring the domains of branding, marketing and packaging, hitherto unexplored by her; was a mammoth task. But her commitment to the cause and perseverance kept her going and growing.

KABBISH took its novel flight at the INDIA STORY 2018, Kolkata, where people showered it with immense love. This warm reception and heartening acceptance motivated her to further stretch her wings. She soon went on to collaborate with a fashion brand and received appreciation and recognition at the LAKME FASHION WEEK SS’19. Thus forth her story has been a train of successes. She has since showcased her work at ASIAN DESIGNER WEEK and many other exhibitions and platforms.

Today her initiative is not only reinventing the craft, but also supporting artisans with meaningful livelihoods, helping restore their faith once again in the skill of their hands, and reviving once again in them a hope for a better life, both for them and their beloved craft.

For her IICD remain a great source of inspiration and a strong pillar of guidance. According to her, during four years of college, the direction of her thought completely changed and evolved to become what it is today. With so much to explore and such in depth exposure to craft clusters, she got the opportunity to observe and live the craft environment from a great proximity. She noticed then, the amount of knowledge and potential our craftsmen hold and with such humility, a revelation that has steered her conscience and consciousness since.

The path of KABBISH runs assimilated with that of these harbingers of ancient wisdom and exceptional skill. This tale of carefully nurtured societal change is ongoing, and many chapters are still in making.