Our Story
Alankaara was born as Amrita’s Post graduation project in 2014. It was a dream and idea that shaped itself in the Southernmost Tip of India – Kanyakumari. The project required her to come up with a business model that would make an impact in terms of profit for the Seashell craftsmen who never really recovered from the Tsunami of 2004 which washed away their livelihoods. They resorted to importing and selling cheap plastic to the tourist and the number of seashell artisans dwindled swiftly.
While researching, Amrita stumbled upon a technique called fossilizing which was native to Ireland. Gillian Corcoran was an artist who was one of the pioneers in this field. Amrita then set to fossilizing small, medium and large seashells into jewellery and lifestyle objects that was well received by the market. The process was easily understood by the craftsmen and it set them up for a brighter and more profitable future.
Upon graduating with The Best Project Award, Amrita had dreams of starting her own line but did not want to depend on the family to fund her dreams. She was employed as a merchandiser for a few years and worked at night out of her father’s garage. Soon Alankaara began to spread its wings slowly, got invites for shows and retail stores. Amrita then decided it was time to take the plunge and put in all her savings, registered Alankaara Designs Private Limited, moved into a brick and mortar studio and thus began the journey.
