About Us

The craft of chikankari is associated with exquisite aesthetics and craftsmanship and has sustained the tradition to this day, through changing patronage and market trends. However, the chikan industry is also associated with poverty and unscrupulous exploitation of poor women in rural areas, who have limited opportunities for earning a livelihood, are unskilled, and are confined within the domestic space. During the initial stages of building Pehnawan, we were constantly challenged with the general perception that chikan embroidery is an inexpensive product, no matter the quality of work involved and hence it is justified to pay craftswomen a pittance for their work. 

Pehnawan is a women-centric brand that reconciles fine quality and artisanship typical of the past with equitable wages for the craftswomen and the sustainability of the business in a highly competitive market. Over the last two years, we have strived to build a community of motivated women, ranging from tailors to printers and liaison agents. This has proved to be a crucial step in transforming a gender-sensitive craft as seen in the production process. 

The involvement of different actors from diverse places and social layers creates networks of interdependency that cut across the boundaries of class, religion, locality, and gender and it has been studied as another distinctive feature of Lucknow which is the particularly "relaxed relationships" in the social domain, among all these different communities.

Fine chikan is defined not just by displaying a vast repertoire of stitchery skill or by the evenness and accuracy of the work; equally important is the balance of the combination of stitches and the various textural effects.
It is difficult, looking at a chikan embroidered piece, even a simple one, to imagine all the different hands it has passed through and all the craftspeople who toiled for it to reach our patrons.  

 

 

 

Founded by Urvashi Bajpai, Pehnawan's vision transcends product and provides an immersive experience of slow and sustainable fashion. We are committed to empowering artisans through a commitment to fair trade that allows them to thrive in and beyond their working environment. 

Our long-term vision is to incorporate other traditional embroideries of India. With the ever-evolving market trends, we aim to introduce new mediums to the craft and capitalize on a larger market.