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LABEL NAME: Tachi (www.tachigoods.com)
OWNERS: Payal Khandwala, Creative Director and Vikram Ramchandani, Managing Director
SC: What does ‘Tachi mean’ and what does it stand for?
Vikram: “Tachi was a blade that preceded the ‘Katana’ in battle swords, made for the Samurai in feudal Japan. It was made during a time when quality, craft, and utility were what defined a ‘good design’. We chose Tachi because of the blade’s importance in a warrior’s home- they were made by master craftsmen and were cared for as the family’s most prized possession.”
SC: What prompted this interest in personal goods?
Vikram: “As a consumer of personal goods, I had a difficult time acquiring everyday objects of impeccable quality made from within India. I wanted to imbibe the spirit of design languages that affected my personal life the most. The functionality and beauty of the Bauhaus school of thought and the traditional approach of Japanese wabi-sabi proved to be a wonderful marriage.”
SC: How do you aim to empower craftsmen in India?
Vikram: “By providing them with a consistent supply of work at sustainable prices. Secondly, we are working hard towards building a corpus of funds to provide them and their immediate families with health insurances.”
SC: What is Tachi’s colour story?
Vikram: “It follows Payal’s lead.”
SC: The most defining moments of your journey with tachi?
Vikram: “Getting the company off the ground!”
SC: Your three absolute favorites from your recent collection?
Payal: “Our square bangle, the isosceles triangular necklace and parallelogram ring.”
Vikram: “The circle within a circle ring, the parallelogram neckpiece, and the small circle nose ring.”
SC: Tell us a little bit about your experimentation with geometrical shapes?
Payal: “The starting point was my daughter’s homework assignment exploring simple two- dimensional shapes. We also keep zero wastage in mind, we use and re-use punched negative spaces from brass as shapes for other accessories- so a circle punched out of a square bangle becomes a pendant.”
Vikram: “Tachi started with a circle and a study on simplicity. The question was- how can we reimagine the circle, how can we make it more beautiful? This led us to the ‘circle key holder’ which remains my favourite piece in our catalogue. The same pushed us to explore and re-explore other geometric shapes that we encounter in our daily lives.”
SC: Three materials that are a dream to work with?
Payal: “I adore leather for its colour and finish, and brass for its accessibility, versatility and ease to work with nature.”
Vikram: “We only work with leather and brass- they exude a sense of refined luxury.”
SC: Every piece of Tachi is purely sourced from India. Can you elaborate a little on this?
Vikram: “We want to re-imagine the use of locally-sourced leather and brass, and spin it into our interpretation of contemporary objects. We take the ‘Made in India’ slogan to heart and want to be a part of what’s good in our country- our people, who work with their hands as much as their hearts.”
SC: Brass, leather- what material will you be working with next?
Payal: “We will concentrate on brass for a while, perhaps with different treatments this time around. We’ve worked with flowers and felt in the past, so you never know what’s in store!”
Vikram: “We’re concentrating on understanding these two materials completely for now. I cannot fathom starting an educative process on another material at this point in time.”
OUR PICKS FROM THEIR RECENT COLLECTION:
The Namida Bag, ₹9,500
The Suranto Neckpiece, ₹3,500
The Karna Nose Pin, ₹3,500
