ETHICAL MANUFACTURING

Honoring makers, culture and craft

Blank Studio is an ethical, eco-friendly & sustainable design and manufacturing studio in Bangalore, with the aim, to satisfy production expectations of designers focused towards slow-made fashion. We are a team of women from diverse cultural backgrounds sharing one national territory, and one common mission – to preserve, promote and revitalize Indian textile and craftsmanship through collaborative design, manufacturing and knowledge exchange.

HOW WE STARTED

The idea for Blank Studio came about when Shivangi was looking for a manufacturing facility in India to create a sustainable line of clothing. After multiple visits to factories across the country, Shivangi realised the need and opportunity for a design and production studio providing impeccable finishing of garments, with no minimum orders and at an affordable pricing.

“With the aim to create a manufacturing studio, which designers living in other parts of the world, could trust and build a long-standing relationship with, Blank Studio now works with more than 25 designers in US, UK, Europe and Australia. And it feels like just a start.”

SAMBHAV BHANDARI, CO-FOUNDER

OUR VISION & PHILOSOPHY

Women Empowerment

We train and employ women from marginal communities to earn a livelihood and bridge the gap between skill development and employment. We identify home-makers and help them become working individuals, providing lower income families with dual income opportunities. We help these women grow, dream and support their family and children to fulfil their aspirations. We believe that when the woman in a family is empowered, the entire family is empowered.

Staff Welfare

Our lake-side studio is located in the heart of Bangalore, in a well-light, spacious and vibrant space. We believe in collaboration and equality of opinion at every step of our business model. We go beyond fair wages and support the dreams of each team member. All our members work from 9am to 6pm, 5 days a week without the stress of overtime. We create a safe space for them to grow in their careers and as individuals. We believe each team member has the vision and skills to participate in important decision making. Whether it’s the design process or product development, we make decisions together.

Zero Waste

During the entire production process, we aim to minimize the creation of waste and scraps. We believe that a good design, is one that accounts for minimal wastage and we encourage designers to commit to sustainable designs. The tiny scraps generated from the production process is sent to our partners, to convert them into tree-less paper which is then passed on to the designer. With any leftover fabric from the previous collections, we create tiny products that can be sold by the designers. We commit to grow in our knowledge of circulatory economy and aspire to become a zero production waste company in the near future.

No Minimums

We believe in creating sustainable products, that we can buy and use for years together. We encourage designers to manufacture less, and be mindful of their sales forecast and not over produce. We help new designers to produce small and test their markets, before committing to large inventory without a sustainable sales channel. Hence, we do not have any minimums and produce small to medium scale quantities.

Our Flexible Approach

We believe in the equal exchange of knowledge and complete transparency between our designers and the production process. We encourage direct communication with our designers, sharing images and videos of the production process, to help them get complete transparency, and visibility of the entire garment construction process.

We are advocates for collaboration and believe that a great product is the result of an effective collaborative approach of designers and artisans. Our highly skilled team of masters, pattern makers, cutters, seamstresses and embroiders, are dedicated towards bringing the vision of designers to life.

Blank Studio is a space of connectivity and our doors are always open for designers to come in and work with our team closely. We bring our expertise in sampling, pattern making, fabric sourcing, embroidery and garment stitching, while also working with collaborators and partners for other aspects of manufacturing including natural dyeing, block printing, labels and packaging, and repurposing scraps.

Health

100% of our employees have full health insurance coverage.

Happiness

100% of employees can afford to send their children to school.

Success

50% of employees are homeowners

Founder

The lake-side studio was founded by Shivangi and Sambhav in February 2017, with the intention to bring designers closer to the manufacturing process, while also providing training and knowledge to under-privileged women, and employ them for better economic and social livelihood.

With a background in Luxury Management from Monaco and working experience with a few luxury brands in France, Shivangi is the founder and vision behind Blank Studio. With the aspiration to build a social enterprise and make ethical manufacturing more accessible to fashion designers across the globe, Shivangi closely works with more than 20 designers from design to production.