While the plague of fast fashion spreads like wildfire even in India, a reality emerges that aims to value the local textile tradition, respecting the working times and artisanal craftsmanship: Bina Mirci (i.e. ‘without spice’ in English). The founder is Giada: she has Italian roots but has been living in India for seven years. She started from working as an accessory designer for a well-known fashion brand and then skipped to volunteering at Shanti Dan, a center for women with mental and emotional disorders.

Beauty and Time

Through traveling, exploring, and studying, Giada discovered another side of fashion: one that shuns the hyper-fast rhythms to which we subject it, in favor of valuing handmade items according to ancient traditionspassed down through generations. This side of fashion gives importance to the ritual of creating a fabric or garment, respecting its needs. For this reason, she decided to collaborate with a small circle of artisans and small businesses to properly cultivate human relationships and support these fragile categories as much as possible. That’s why Bina Mirci's productions are unique and limited editions.

The female Labor Behind Every Detail

Every detail of the collections is meticulously crafted: for instance, the dolls gifted with each order from the website are entirely made from recycled materials by a team of women led by Laxmi, a collaborator who is also a co-founder of the project Sisters Creations. The personalized labels, on the other hand, are produced by Calcutta Rescue, an NGO that provides free services to disadvantaged families in Calcutta and nearby villages. Through the Fairtrade Handicraft Project initiative, over fifty women have been involved in the production of these artifacts.

Ethics Over Aesthetics

The philosophy of this brand is that ethics should come before aesthetics, and this also involves the production process of the garments. It starts with the block makers: members of the Kharadi community who create the prints on the fabrics using wooden blocks carved specifically for each design. Each model is then refined by tailors who add the precious details that characterize them, allowing those who wear them to savor the essence of India. This gives rise to colorful and romantic collections with a timeless oriental halo.

Credits: https://binamirci.com/