Chamar Studio


Chamar Studio was founded by artist Sudheer Rajbhar as a project to employ leather craftspeople who were made unemployed by the 2015 leather ban in India. Working closely with the Dalit community, particularly in Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai, the brand was born out of their ingenious skill at recycling rubber and waste into functional objects. Inspired by the blue tarpaulin that is used to protect houses during the monsoon, Chamar first developed its signature material - a canvas mesh which is fused with a layer of recycled rubber. Great research and development went into giving the material strength and refining the colour, which has a natural muddy marble effect. Debuting its leather alternative across a line of handbags and fashion accessories, the Chamar project immediately gained the support of the fashion world.

For its collaboration with æquō, Chamar continues to take its references from fashion and the micro details of garment construction. The fall of fabric inspires the Pocket chair and the inner seam of garments clearly informs the Sleeve lights. Riveting replaces stitching and the specially developed recycled rubber is precision cut - the plastic pattern cutters of Dharavi as skilled as the leather craftsmen of before. A final surprise is the illusion of softness; there is no natural drop but rather a strength and rigidity, which create sustainable objects of collectible design.