Happy Maker!

HETAL SHRIVASTAV, 33 Year (Founder & Designer) 
Born and brought up in Gandhinagar in Gujarat, Hetal grew up in an environment where traditions were genuinely valued, things were up-cycled if they stopped functioning and dignity of work prevailed. Winning an award for the “Best use of traditional skills into contemporary styling” in the last year of her graduation in the NIFT Gandhinagar course served to be a stepping stone in the right direction. 
Hetal started Raasleela in 2013. She made the garments herself as getting them stitched from a tailor was expensive having very little funds. After strenuous hours spent on doing that, she gave up. Not on the garments, but on the machine. She stitched every piece of a garment by hand and this is how it still functions. Skeptical about the success of this process at first, the artisans they collaborated with, later on, took pride in making the garments. “I have made this entirely by myself is what Hansaben, with whom we made our first collection, had said with such pride and power that it made me realize what I wanted to do”, says Hetal.