Chapter 1:
The Beginning of YŪGEN
Yugen began as an early-morning thought - a quiet convergence of two ideas: a love for classic western silhouettes, and a desire to make design-led craft feel natural in everyday life.
An initial concept board and an excited conversation with a colleague gave the vision its first shape: an interplay of Asian influences - not limited by geography, but connected by rhythm, restraint, and balance - translated through the earthy depth of authentic Ajrakh.
Chapter 2 :
Finding a Language
What followed was not a business plan, but a passion project. Shirts and T-shirts became our first language - familiar forms through which a new expression could emerge.
Also at the heart of the venture was a desire to make Indian craft scalable and accessible - why should it limit to traditional aesthetics and forms?
The initiation was not without its critique after all : How many women wear shirts ?
Chapter 3:
Designing for Everyday Life
We are deeply grateful to designer Anwita Sarin, whose exceptional creative hand transformed fragments of memory and culture - old stamps, noodle bowls, kites, Chinese hats, waves, and spontaneous scribbles - into a new print handwriting.
One that feels timeless, personal, and belonging to every age.
Chapter 4:
Discovering Ajrakh
Over the course of a year, we moved slowly. Through countless print trials, fit tests, block carvings, color swatches, and fabric experiments - until we arrived at what felt right.
•Pure cotton that rests gently on the skin.
•Natural dyes that breathe with the body.
•Fits that move between structure and ease.
•Prints that could belong anywhere in the world.
And a process that leaves the earth unharmed.
Yugen is an Indian craft, reinterpreted for the global present - bringing stillness into motion, and intention into what we wear.
Chapter 5:
The Colours of Earth
NATURAL DYES : The colors of the earth
Every Yugen piece is colored using 100% natural dyes, developed through time-honored methods of the Ajrakh craft tradition.
Our palette comes from nature itself. Each color is coaxed from its source by hand, under open skies, guided by weather, water, and time - making no two batches ever exactly the same.
These are not manufactured colors.
They are living tones.
They age gracefully, soften with wear, and carry the memory of the hands that made them.
Chapter 6:
The Journey Continues
The creation of more product did not come without its share of guilt. We were going to contribute to the heaps of textile waste already sitting in the landfills and this was not OK.
But there was a solution! What if we incentivized our customers to return the Yugen garments to us so that we can recycle and create further utility from them – give them another life.
That was the birth of R³ Programme, something we are very proud of.
Yugen is a labor of love from the first print to the final button. We hope you experience that same love when you wear this apparel.
