Meet Mudita Vij | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mudita Vij and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mudita, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
From childhood, I have been fascinated with the different fabrics, rich, royal colors, intricate designs, textures and patterns of Sarees. I always admired my mother in her gorgeous Sarees and hoped one day I would also get to wear them!

When I was 16 years old, my family migrated to Canada from Mumbai, India and then I came to the US for further studies and started working for a Pharma company in South San Francisco. After getting married, I moved to LA with my husband. Over the years, I noticed that all my Indian outfits and Sarees were stored in a different closet, which I opened only at special far and few events, like Indian weddings, or other Indian festivities. Every time we visited India, I would have to stop myself from buying more Sarees only to have them end up in the closet, unworn. But my love for the different textiles, craftsmanship, and vibrant colors never really got lost even though they were not incorporated in our everyday.

After moving to our new home, I opened up all my Sarees and just sat there looking at the beautiful fabrics and designs. I was flooded with my love for them, the beautiful memories of my mother wearing them. After running my hands over them a couple times, feeling the different fabrics and textures, I thought, “there’s got to be more to it than only being draped!” And thats when I started working on my idea of repurposing Sarees into home decor!

There were two very clear thoughts in my mind as I started working on my idea, firstly I wanted to make Sarees accessible to everyone. A lot of people have heard of them, love them, but not everyone wants to, or knows how to drape and wear a Saree. By transforming them into different home decor items, we are allowing people to bring these unique pieces home, decorate their spaces and still be in love with it! Secondly, I have always been proud of my background and heritage, and so I wanted to try to give back to my community by helping spread our rich culture and exquisite craftsmanship around the world. Every part of India is filled with locally talented artists and that’s something that I want to showcase. By going straight to the weavers, cutting out the middle man, we ensure the locals get the dues that they deserve.

Thus, keeping in mind our goals, I started The Whole 9, representing the nine yards of a Saree!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Sarees are so diverse in their fabrics, weaving techniques, designs, colors, lengths, widths, time it takes to make them, etc. I chose to work with handwoven Silk Banarasi Sarees for my very first collection. A Banarasi saree is hand woven in Varanasi, an ancient city which is also called Benares. These Sarees are among the finest in India and are known for their gold and silver brocade or Zari, hand-woven fine silk and opulent embroidery. The Sarees take anywhere from 15 days to a couple month to make, depending on their design. Once I select each Saree directly from a local weaver in Varanasi, our team of ladies in the city of Barmer, Rajasthan, use the Kantha technique of hand-stitch, add a layer of velvet and make throws and cushion covers from them. Each Saree is handwoven and exclusive, making our Throws and Cushions one of a kind unique pieces.

Covid definitely added challenges, it has had a huge impact worldwide and it certainly impacted us too. I lost a majority of my contacts who were local weavers and artisans and as a result, I had to delay our first 2022 Spring-Summer Collection. But that did not stop me, I started once again, found our local weavers in Benares, found a new team to hand stitch our pieces, started working on the first collection once again and was able to release it as our Fall-Winter Collection of 2022. One thing I noticed during the process was that we had a lot of smaller left over saree pieces. I wanted to use every inch of the Sarees, and so last year, during the festive season, we introduced our very own handmade Silk Saree Ornaments!

By being a small business, I am able to produce small batches, which helps maintain our quality standards and make sure we use the best, most sustainable fabrics.

After getting a great first response and keeping in mind all the feedback given to us, I am now focusing and working on our 2023 Spring-Summer Collection! This time too we are continuing to work with Banarasi Silk Sarees while introducing a couple new items and colors to our Collection!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Wow, this is a tough question! 🙂 LA has so many wonderful places to see and visit! I would definitely start with food first, we Indians are big foodies 🙂 I would take them to Sawtelle area in west LA for some amazing Asian food, or Tumbi, in Santa Monica for finger licking Indian food. I love the tacos at Ensenada’s Surf and Grill in Hermosa Beach and sushi at Kanpai on Lincoln.

I’d definitely suggest taking a walk by the pier in Redondo or Hermosa Beach, enjoying the views by the ocean. If you go there early in the morning, you can spot dolphins swimming and enjoying in the water! A few other places to go visit are the Getty Center for amazing views, LACMA and the Tarpits, the California Science Center, where you can go see Endeavour, the space shuttle, and then there is always Universal studios and Disneyland!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Parents and my Husband definitely deserve the mention here!

I feel my greatest supporters and cheerleaders have always been my dad and mom. When I decided to work on my idea, both my parents were totally onboard and have worked through the entire process with me from the very beginning. Even though they are currently in Bombay, India, they have always been just a phone call away, no matter the time difference between the two countries. From my memories as a kid, I have seen my father helping out in the kitchen and also with other home chores. He always normalized the idea of both partners contributing equally. I have also seen my mother go from a home maker, to studying further to become a teacher, teaching in India for 14 years, moving halfway around the world with her family, setting up once again from scratch, working in a new country and finally retiring as a grandparent. They have taught me to be strong no matter what, resilient, to work hard and to always find the positive in every situation.

I am very grateful to my husband, who, like me does not come from a business background, but has still encouraged me and supported me in my journey. It is not easy to invest your time and efforts into something new, not knowing if it will work or not. But he has been very supportive of me and has always been the one to challenge me to think of all the different possibilities, when I couldn’t. I can’t forget to mention my little boys, Yashvir (8yrs) & Avyaan (6yrs) 🙂 They have been the sweetest, patient and most understanding kids! I love to see their enthusiasm when we make a sale, or how they cheer me on before a market or fair!

Lastly I would also love to thank everyone who has helped in this journey of mine, be it encouraging me, supporting me, helping me with my photoshoots, giving me feedback on my first collection, giving me pointers on market displays, etc., I hope you know I am truly grateful to have you in my life! And everyone who has supported us by buying our products, our clients!

Website: www.thewhole9co.com

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