The Hemp Home: Reinterpreting Himachali Hemp Crafts for Conscious Spaces

Category: Interior

The Hemp Home is a conscious homeware collection rooted in the revival of the Pulla craft - traditional hemp rope footwear from Himachal. Situated at the intersection of craft-led innovation, cultural continuity, and design ethics, the project addresses the decline of indigenous crafts caused by low compensation, market disconnect, and the rise of mass-produced alternatives. The objective was to reposition Pulla’s traditional hemp weaving into a contemporary homeware context. By engaging with artisans in Nehra village, Gadagushaini, the project adopts a collaborative, field-based approach involving ethnographic research, artisan interviews, and participatory co-creation. The design philosophy of Sehaj-Mehaj (simple and easy in Hindi), drawn from the local lifestyle, served as the conceptual anchor, shaping the product aesthetics and informing decisions on form, functionality, and tactility. The process adapts an age-old technique not by aesthetic mimicry but through material innovation and spatial reapplication. It introduces new applications for a historic craft without compromising its cultural essence. The innovation lies in its ability to honour the original while offering something entirely new in context, utility, and form. It demonstrates how craft revival must extend beyond product aesthetics to include systems of production, livelihood support, and cultural storytelling. By bridging design with grassroots craft ecosystems, design can reclaim indigenous material wisdom and reposition traditional knowledge within future domestic spaces, because a home is not just built with bricks and furniture; it is built with care, community, and consciousness. ______________ "Think GLOBAL, Work LOCAL."