The Story of Our Young Brand...

Hut Mentality took wings on the soul of a restless college sophomore with a deep longing to find purpose. How else can life be led? What are the different ways in which humans find purpose? What is the common thread that binds us, despite our differences?

These questions fueled a restless desire to travel to the remote corners of India, like the tribal villages in the Raan of Kutch where despite utter poverty, people delighted in painting their mud huts with artwork. They adorned themselves from head to toe in colorful, exquisitely embroidered clothes which they had painstakingly embroidered themselves. Every day looked like a festival! They reveled in creating. Life is it’s own purpose. Simply expressing our innate creative potential may be our purpose. We are, after all, supposed to be made in the image of the creator. So, we must create!

Unfortunately, in the hundreds of years of colonial rule that India endured, Indian artisans and weavers were suppressed from pursuing their creativity. In the interest of bolstering their own profits, the British colonial rulers passed laws that essentially disempowered the weavers and artisans. They were forced to sell their products only to the British at prices their colonial masters set. This exploitation led to hordes of artisans and weavers suffering huge losses,  eventually being forced to give us their craft. Handloom industries were replaced by machines and mass production of textiles and fast fashion became the norm.    

 

The Mission Behind the Thread...

Our mission at Hut Mentality is to bring back the artisan and the art into textiles and fashion. After all, fashion is nothing, if not a form of creative expression.

We source authentic, artisan-made textiles, either directly from artisans, markets where they sell their handicrafts, co-ops that collaborate with them, or businesses that employ them. We use mostly natural fabrics (but some of our designs may incorporate fabrics which are blended or not 100% natural).

Our textiles showcase a craft of weaving, dyeing, embroidering, and/or print making that has been passed down through generations of artisans. There may be slight imperfections in our clothes that is the beauty of the human imprint. We have limited quantities of products though we will try to replenish what is in demand if it can be procured. If not, we will provide another equally interesting piece. So, if you like something, you best buy it, because chances are there isn’t plenty more where that came from.