The Beginning

Towards the end of the 19th century amidst the monopolistic trade regulations by the British East India Company, came a revolution, a consolidated uprising of Indian entrepreneural ingenuinity. For hundreds of years the community living on the fringes of the civilised Indian Culture, were being threatend. Their existence questioned, their way of life destroyed. With hunger in their belly, their roofs snatched, their clothes reduced to tatterdemalion, these
natives had their backs against the wall. With every passing day, the Raj kept rearing it's ugly greedy head. Looms were being shattered, trade routes blocked, heavy tariffs and taxes were being imposed. Pushed to the brink were these poor natives.

The Uprising

With a growing dissent, the natives found themselves landlocked between the Raj and the then Zamindar Family. They were being forced to buy clothes manufactured in the satanic mills of the Victorian era. With hardly any means to buy food, these natives could not afford to buy clothes at such exhorbitant prices. Being the untouchables in the society, they were unable to find work in the mainstream of the society. Drawing patachitra, performing the last rites as doms and running brothels for the passing sailors were the main stay of work in these neighborhoods. Gyanendra Rathore, an aristocrat, a direct descendant of the Zamindar family, came to the forefront in support of these downtrodden neighborhoods. He employed a guerilla tactic of keeping the front with the Rajas an elite of the society on one hand, on the other he taught these natives to weave their own fabric.

The Revolution

The natives were resourceful, they made the fabrics, they stitched the clothes and under the cover of darkness, they would set out to sell their fabrics to various parts of the state. They would use small, fast dinghys called Gatim for this illicit trade. These small crafts were nimble enough to manouver through the creeks and small enough to avoid detection by the British patroling steamers. These crafts would later go onto create a market for the clothes and fabrics, in their namesake. These clothes went on to be known as Gatim Kapor. Today, we celebrate this nuance of crafting world class garments using indegenous styles and weaves, through the brand Gatim.

The Birth of Gatim

With a combined tenure of over 3 decades, the dynamic duo of Sneha & Aakriti are set to bring in a revolution in the Women Wear industry.

Aakriti, spear heads the designing of the garments and acquisition of the best in class fabrics from various suppliers.

Sneha, travels to various fashion houses and exhibitions to pick up on the nuances of the global fashion industry. This exercise ensures that every garment from Gatim, is in line with the fashion vogue at it's time.

Ms. Sneha Agarwal, Director, Gatim Fashions Pvt. Ltd