Okhai offers handcrafted apparel and lifestyle products created by rural artisans from across India. These artisans are gifted with traditional skills to craft exquisite designs, unique to their culture and heritage. At present, over 500 female artisans are benefiting from Okhai. Women on Wings and Okhai join hands in realizing their joint mission to create more employment opportunities for rural women.

Artisans use skills to become self-confident
As a brand, Okhai constitutes ladies’ wear, men’s wear, home décor products and accessories. Okhai products use mirror work, patchwork and embroidery created as a vibrant expression of the rural way of life, their rituals and their legends. Okhai’s mission is to encourage women from less privileged backgrounds to acquire new skills; to give them self-confidence and self-esteem; and to enable them to carry this newly discovered skill and confidence into the wider world. Okhai understands the rich culture and traditions that these rural communities are steeped in and translates this heritage into products by pairing traditional art with contemporary designs and modern processes.

Okhai; a Tata initiative for rural artisans
Okhai was set up by Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development (TCSRD). With the support of TCSRD, self-help groups (SHGs) have been formed in the villages of Okhamandal and members of these groups are trained in the processes of modern handicraft production. The idea is to ensure that the women can work at their pace and in their homes while managing their household. Special training on costing, designs and visual merchandising coupled with factory visits are provided on an ongoing basis to keep the women in touch with the latest trends, colors and fashions.

@picture: Okhai