The Humane Collective | Know the Journey

Natural & Conscious Choice

A HUMANE ALTERNATIVE

The Humane Collective is an Alternative Lifestyle - an expression of Timeless Style & Luxury that is Conscious, Natural & Handcrafted by Artisanal Communities.

We offer versatile and contemporary apparel to those who choose consciously and prefer quiet luxury that is immersed in tradition. Plush natural materials and the handiwork that goes into each apparel make them unique so that you, and the clothes you wear, look good, feel good & do good.

OUR BRAND VISION

The Humane Collective (THC) is synonymous with natural materials, handmade by communities using traditional techniques for a slow & conscious lifestyle.

In this world of mass-produced fast-fashion, we make bespoke, handcrafted apparel for those who value uniqueness. Our garments are mindfully designed to adapt to today’s dynamic lifestyles and be versatile enough to look good at the office, the party, and beyond; without compromising on comfort, style or function.

Our vision is to create a strong alternative lifestyle option for clothing that is of the highest quality and designed to be versatile, timeless and provide the goodness of these materials and their craftsmanship.

THE BEGINNING

It started with a question - do we need a human centered world or a more humane one?

The solution emerged in the campus of the NID, Ahmedabad in a Systems Design Course called “Emerging Scenarios”, now in its 7th year, taught by our founder Dipendra Baoni.

A classroom exercise with over 150 students over the years was set to forecast, debate, analyze, nurture and then implemented into practice at Lemon Design on Speculative Design & Design of the Future.

After years of research, testing, working & living with traditional communities in Northeast, Kutch & Himachal, a design model emerged which connected the dots. We called it Humane design - a structure of how an enterprise can work holistically for the environment, society and economic benefit - creating a circular value chain for all stakeholders for mutual benefit.

THE COLLECTIVE

When Dipendra met Shivani Thakur, founder, The Woolknitters, The Humane Collective was founded bringing together 23+ years of Design Practice + Research with 70+ years of legacy and knowledge of working with artisan communities, materials and crafts.

We are a collective of artisanal communities from various corners of India (presently Himachal Pradesh, Kutch & NorthEast India) who passionately practice indigenous art & craft forms, and designers/design students from reputed institutions like NID, NIFT and others.

Weavers, Knitters, Artisans, Tailors and Designers are trained to create our collections that are a showcase of the best of both worlds - traditional and contemporary. This large collective approach allows us to work with numerous individuals and organisations that contribute to its value and growth - also helping us build capacity that counters the forces of fast fashion to offer a more circular and sustainable systemic impetus against toxic materials and practices.

Numerous hands go into making each apparel. Nourishing our souls, livelihood, craft, local ecology & our planet's well being.

CHOOSE CONSCIOUSLY

“As consumers, we have so much power to change the world by just being careful in what we buy.” – Emma Watson

It is time we move our choices from the sub-conscious into the conscious. As citizens of the world, it is our responsibility to empathise and celebrate the diverse people, cultures and nature.

It is our responsibility to develop a fashion conscience. Slow or Fast, the choice is always ours.

It is time we stop being a part of the problem and start becoming a part of the solution.

Great Places

India has the richest, most ancient and diverse landscapes in the world.

This diversity is also reflected in the multitude of cultures that one can find across the subcontinent. It is our knowledge of nature and surrounding ecosystem which shape our values and the lifestyles that we adopt.

The beliefs & traditions that form society are based on a deep-rooted understanding of the natural cycles- of seasons, climate and ecological systems of the place. We aim to retain & renew some of this last remaining wisdom that flourish in remote areas among the local population, and bring it into our modern lifestyle.

We ow it to the places around us for their natural bounty that gives us all we need and more. After all, apart from nourishment, shelter and companionship, it is stories that we need the most.

Local Practices

Traditional processes & techniques celebrate knowledge of the ages and reflect them through the skills of our artisans. Their intuitive understanding of the natural harmony between geography, the seasons and the resources coalesce into a symphony of human evolution and art. For ages, Indian ingredients & handicrafts have been celebrated and valued, and influenced all cultures.

This uniqueness and flavor of India, is slowly being undermined due to the monotony and noise of industrial and mass production, which is rapidly replacing the indigenous and native knowledge with a monotony and coldness of machine-made lives.

We are blown away by the skills that have withstood this tide of consumerism, and we bring to it a collaboration with the best design minds in the country, working with remote tribes and their ingenious and intuitive understanding of materials and their transformation into objects of daily life for a global sensitivity.

Responsible Partners

"Coming together is the beginning,
Staying together is the processes,
Working together is success."

For us, the measure of progress and its subsequent success has always been the people that we connect with and the numerous hands that help us co-create. It's these age-old traditions and inherent skills that help us build communities and preserve practices. We believe in the idea of a collective co-creation of value for an ecological system. The harmony between Nature, Society and Economics is the basis of this collaboration.
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The Humane Collective came into being serendipitously with 20 years of systems design & experimentation + professional practice at Lemon Design and 70 years of social enterprise at Bhuttico & The Wool Knitters.We are inspired by each other’s honesty, the ethics that enabled this partnership and a deep-rooted meticulous work culture.

The dream to design a better world, starts with a team of visionaries who are inspired to do the impossible