The Kolhapuri designer?

                                              
From being a textile design student to making handmade earrings for a simple past time to now "the kolhapuri designer", its been a weird journey and above all it was never planned. I guess that is the best part of it all that things just fell into place on their own. I never ever would have thought I would be creating shoes out of all the accessories in the world and that too Kolhapuris.

From my teens I was always a person who noticed shoes, the first thing, when I met a person. I dont know why and I still dont like the habit but however I feel the shoes you wear and the way you match this particular accessory with your entire outfit speaks volumes about your personality. Though its a lousy way of judging people and I dont judge people on just this. I've learnt that first impressions are never correct. I dont believe in basing your judgement on a first impression. No way!

Anyway so why Kolhapuris then. I have no clue. I got the idea while I was on phone with a friend. To me Kolhapuris are the most friendly flat sandals ever and plus they are in our DNA since they are truely something from this part of the world. However all I do is jazz them up. I just do what I love and what comes to mind.

Now I cant imagine a life without creating something new each day. Its such a rush. However at times I do miss my idle days but it still cant beat the feeling that one gets when you hold your very own designed and stitched pair of new Kolhapuris in your hand. Thats love!

Calm down.....relax......its just a roller coaster......

   Its been busy busy busy. I know I haven't dropped by at the blog for a proper post in a longgg time. Its just been like a roller coaster ride. There have been the highs and the lows and the works! From day 1 till today things have been moving at speeds way beyond my comprehension. I can seriously, till now not get hold of what all has been done and what all is left to do. At first it was the rush of thinking thinking thinking, designs, colours, materials, stock, quality control, techniques, plan A's and B's and all the way to plan Z, everything to do all at once as we knew we had to create a brand and spread the word. With the word spread, it meant expectations. It meant to be as good as we say or we claim we are.

Then with the dates all set, and with me blogging, and completely plastering our posters all over facebook and then offstreet and anywhere and everywhere, there was THE mishap. With the venue all set and people calling and confirming and getting all excited, it so happened that the same day it was a shut down strike. Trust me only the two of us know how we dealt with that day. I have never been so confused in my entire life as I was that night and above all there was NOTHING one could do to change it. F was literally in tears that night when we were sitting thinking that do we go to the venue and set it up or do we change the dates but then what about the venue and the people coming. It was seriously depressing but we pulled through.

Cut to the day of the exhibition. Trust me I was sooo sleepy I could have slept on the Kolhapuris. It had been work work work for an entire month without weekends. I am sure the people who showed up didn't see that much enthusiasm on my face as there should have been for my first exhibition. I was sleepy guys. However InshAllah whenever I meet them again they will see the real Hera not the sleepy zombie I was that day.

So with the exhibition done with now. Its time for order completion and a whole new collection to be thought of........so from the looks of this post........I am ending it exactly where I started it from. Thinking thinking thinking and the plans from A to Z. New collection will be coming real soon. Wish me luck guys. I need it! Love to all the fans and my customers. Take care......

A Launch worth the work.......

The non stop work, the missing out on weekends and the having a non existent social life paid off at last. Finally we went ahead with a at home Launch Exhibition. You can see a glimpse of it. To all the people who came to the Launch, a BIG THANK YOU! We loved to have you here. And to all the people who couldn't make it. Well hopefully there will be another chance right.

This time Eid has rushed right up and we didn't even realize with all the work. However it would be great to take a day off. I seriously need it. I am totally not in the mood to work at all. I am not even in the mood to get up from here. Just want to lay down and sleep. zzzzz!

However that can't be. I have a few people coming in to pick up their orders so need to get myself together and stop being so lazy.

I don't know sometimes all this seems to unreal to me that a lazy person like me has gotten this far. However all the lovely people and their comments give me a kick start to get back into action. If it wasnt for all you fans I would have left everything and slept or would have been glued to the TV. =)

EID MUBARAK to all our readers!!! Have a lovely Eid and have the best of time with your family and friends!!

The pair I got for myself...... ;)

     

The handmade.fabulous.fancified weekend!

  Okay its not like we didn't try. We tried. We literally did! But since all the places are booked up for Eid hence we are celebrating a handmade.fabulous.fancified weekend here at home. So I am hoping that all of the people who were waiting for the Launch will show up this weekend and I will get to meet them. Just can't wait!!!!


 Also this weekend we are taking customized Kolhapuri orders. Bring along a dress of yours which you are wearing this Eid or to a wedding or a special occasion and get a customized Kolhapuri.

Hoping to see many of my readers at my little tiny Launch....... take care guys......pray for us!

So what......its all good.....=)

Image taken from http://icanread.tumblr.com

    

 Okay so our Launch exhibition didn't happen. Let alone getting a good response or a flop response, we didn't even get to the response bit. I've been sending out texts, answering emails and phone calls and letting people know that the Launch has been postponed to another day. A day that we will be running after from tomorrow. Going to places and looking for bookings and empty slots for the Launch day as it is after all the Eid and Shaadi season. Okay so me and F have to share our views about this whole episode where exactly on the day of our BIG launch the city goes on a complete shut down strike.

Hera K: The best part about life is that its unpredictable. I love Karachi and love the life that it has to it. It never sleeps. And though people would think after this whole incident I would not be liking Karachi but infact I still love my city!! So what if a hurdle came in the way of the Launch. It doesnt mean the journey has come to a stop. There will be dead ends and there will be mazes in this journey. Thats why I love being in this unpredictable life and this city. I love to think up of plan B's and the craziness that every plan brings along with it. Life goes on.....

F: Whatever happens, happens for a reason. The Launch not happening right now means something. What does it mean? It means more time to make more stuff, and maybe better stuff. We a little more time to create newer pieces. It was meant to happen this way and anything that happens always happens for the best. We are still just as excited!

And also Zil Hajj(Dhul Hijjah) Chand Mubarak to all our readers. Eid will be coming soon =)

Announcement!

A must read for all our fans and customers.....

You may call this a disclaimer or guidelines, but to us this is vital information that is a must-know for each and every one of our customers. To all those who plan on coming to our Launch and ordering or buying stuff we just want to give out a few points about our products so that you know what you are buying. As a brand we feel complete responsibility of letting our customers know what our products are like and we don't want to make any false claims to make our products sell.

Basically our products specially Kolhapuris are handmade and hand embellished. It is a fact that handmade things are not as tough as machine made things are. But thats the difference we are bringing into the huge fashion industry. As the tag line of the following website says PEOPLE NOT FACTORIES, thats exactly what handmade things are all about. They are unique and more like a piece of art than a random accessory.

Leather or Kolhapuris to be precise tend to wear out with time. So we would want to give you guys some points to make your Kolhapuris last longer.

- Handmade things are delicate so they need special care. Do not use your Kolhapuri roughly. Rough use will damage the Kolhapuri. So save it for special days as you would do with any other special shoe.

- Keep your Kolhapuri away from water and keep it packed when not in use.

- Your Kolhapuri will mostly last you a good amount of time if handled with care. However with every pair we are giving you a 6 month warranty and if at any point you encounter any problems, since its a handmade product, we will fix it for you free of cost. So just give us a call. 
 

Remember your Kolhapuri's are a piece of art and have been stitched with love by someone just for you. So love them as much as we loved making them for you. Happy shopping!