Desi TOTe' for the day

How many times have you stepped out only to find people around you wearing the same exact things that you are? Call it the bane of mass production, but this is what gave Krishna Murthy a brainwave.

The Bengaluru lad set out on a pursuit to keep the languishing Indian traditional crafts and designs from becoming extinct. He confesses that he doesn’t know when he zeroed in on making bags, but he now hand stitches them from natural resources, recycled products and leather.

“Even as a kid, I’d try to make the most of waste. My family and friends always thought I had a talent for it,” he says, speaking from his eco-friendly studio in Vasanthapura.

A graduate of Vidya Sagar’s Design School in Ulsoor, Kris as he’s popularly known as dabbled in the apparel industry and even taught at high-flying design schools in the city before he finally quit to go after what he was most passionate about.

“I’d observed everybody from a cobbler to people who made handicrafts and I was fascinated by the saddle-making technique,” says the 39-year-old.

Although there aren’t a lot of horses to saddle on the streets these days, he confesses that he didn’t want the engineering craft to die. “That inspired me to use leather to make bags and focus on its functionality and utility,” he says about his bags that have zero embellishments and are high on aesthetics – something that even saw Aamir Khan’s wife, Kiran Rao bag one!   

According to Kris, his parents were against his choice of career – specifically the material he was using. “My name is Krishna Murthy for starters and I come from a Hindu family. Leather was a strict no-no and my parents were upset to begin with,” he says.

Seeing him flourish in his career of choice, they eventually gave in. He also works with vulcanised rubber tyres to create fascinating book binds, stationary, pouches and bags which start from Rs 500 and is also on sale at Basava, along with his leather inventory, until August 7.

His workspace is an open area off Kanakapura Road whose electricity bill doesn’t exceed Rs 100 and employs women who are in need of work. “We train them from scratch. Since it’s really laborious, there are no deadlines, they can take breaks whenever they want and we even help them with their kids’ education and health,” he says.

Although he retails through boutique outlets in Bengaluru and even retails in Switzerland – thanks to a huge number of expats who are fans of his work, Kris has bigger plans.

“I hope to open my own store soon. I want to create awareness of the Indian craft and with the talent we have, we can definitely compete with Italy even,” he says, only stopping to unwind by collecting vintage material every once in a while. For him, it’s all about giving everything a second life.