Sustaining Odisha’s Textile Traditions
Richa Maheshwari, the founder of fashion brand Boito, tells about rediscovering her roots during a sabbatical and finding out how Odia people weave stories into textiles.
WORDS by SHARMI ADHIKARY
Words like sustainable and slow pepper our conversation with Richa Maheshwari not because these concepts form the highlight of contemporary fashion discourse but for how the founder of Boito approaches what she has set out to do for Odisha’s weaves, crafts and people.
In an era dominated by fast fashion, entrepreneurs, believes Richa, carry the vital responsibility of balancing luxury with sustainability. Boito rises to this challenge by championing slow, sustainable fashion, nurturing artisans’ creative potential, and fostering ‘reverse migration’ through stable, dignified livelihoods.
“Luxury fashion must serve a bigger purpose today. Shoppers must have a genuine intention before choosing a product. When they desire to know the story behind a piece; its maker, its material, the time taken to craft it, they automatically begin to shift from impulse to investment,” Richa explains, adding that while healthy returns to investment is imperative for sustaining a business, her vision was never profit or money-driven from the beginning. Establishing the intent, with emphasis on quality, was the impetus behind Boito; the positive response has only added to the motivation.
VISION OF AUTHENTICITY
Richa deciphered early on that the expertise of Indian weaving communities cannot be rivalled by fast fashion. Boito’s mission hence, is to rekindle Odisha’s crafts and support the communities, enabling them to nurture their traditions. “Our vision is to revive and modernise Odisha’s textiles using minimal design tweaks so that it doesn’t compromise the essence or wisdom of generations of craftsmanship, while preserving the craft’s autonomous nature.”
Before deconstructing how the brand is intrinsically channelling sustainability, Richa let’s us in on how Boito was set up. “There is this line I begin with when anyone asks me about how we came to be. I left home to find myself but everything I was looking for was already here,” Richa says with a smile. A former SAP engineer, she conceived the brand during the pandemic after taking a sabbatical to travel through her ancestral home in Odisha.
“Luxury fashion must serve a bigger purpose today. Shoppers must have a genuine intention before choosing a product.”
What started as casual getaways with local friends soon turned into transformative encounters with tribal communities. “Immersed in their traditions, I was struck by the depth of storytelling, the mastery of skill, and the quiet resilience woven into every thread, an experience I had long overlooked. These journeys awakened in me a genuine desire to safeguard these legacies,” Richa recalls.
ROOTED IN COMMUNITY TRADITIONS
In 2023, she launched Boito to ensure Odisha’s traditions continue to inspire generations. “I can see the impact in most artisan clusters we work with – weavers are happy to be on a continuous pipeline without the fear of sitting on inventory that may not have takers.”
The name the fashion entrepreneur chose, says it all. ‘Boito’ is a tribute to the Boito Bandana festival, a beautiful tradition where miniature boats are floated on rivers and ponds in Odisha on Kartik Purnima. “It’s a symbolic send-off to ancient maritime traders, but for me, it always felt like something deeper, a ritual of release, of setting dreams free on water. Personally, it’s a metaphor for travelling far only to come home to yourself and to your roots. Culturally, the brand name is symbolic of Odisha’s storied history of maritime exchange and its ancient artistry,” Richa says.
Embodying a unique intersection of sustainability and tradition, Boito is revitalising Odisha’s rich heritage creating contemporary fashion while preserving traditional patterns and motifs as well as contributing to community empowerment. “It’s been a revelation venturing into tribal communities and witnessing their culture up front. At Lamtaput, members of the Gadaba community welcomed us into their homes, sang beautiful songs made up on the spot, while women made yarn from the bark and branches of the local kerang tree,” she
recalls, adding, “Odisha is home to 62 ancient tribes, each flourishing with its own culture, traditions, customs, and languages. Everywhere I went, I met deeply joyous people – content with how they moved through the world and their place in it. Community was everything. This was perhaps most evident with the Bondas of the Malkangiri forests. Women are named after the day of the week they were born, illustrative of how their identity is focused on the collective, rather than the individual. Choosing names serves no purpose in Bonda society. These experiences were wake-up calls, and I knew I had to find a meaningful way to share them.”
A CULTURE-LED IDENTITY
The brand is identifiable to those who seek story-led, culturally resonant fashion, a niche that exists beyond trends. The silhouettes are tailored for sculpting narratives through cloth. “We are known for our patchwork storytelling technique, garments and coats that combine Khandua silk, Kotpad handloom, Pipli appliqué work, and Dokra elements – assembled together with the intent to echo Odisha’s layered identities. Our motifs are often drawn from local myths – like the Navagunjara. The majestic sea turtle also holds special significance for Boito. For us, it has come to represent the very essence of Odisha and artisan communities – perfectly capturing their slow pace, endurance and resilient nature. The Kaincha motif features prominently in our collections, leisurely guiding you through Odisha’s craft landscapes,” explains Richa, adding, “We treat handloom itself as the ultimate sustainable act, it’s circular by design. Our production timelines are intentionally slow. We’re not seasonal but story-driven. Each piece is made to be cherished and passed on, not discarded. In that way, we challenge the very idea of fast fashion.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Coming from a corporate background that follows structures,
Richa did face initial challenges. “My initial interactions with weavers were comical! I gave them a spreadsheet with itemised textiles to be woven, along with delivery timelines. They paid no attention to my madness and stopped answering my calls for two months! As I spent more time with them, I understood their way of working, while unlearning my corporate ways,” she chuckles.
The start is slow but the dreams are big for Boito. In the current context, buying and supporting handloom textiles is the ultimate sustainable choice. It is the literal antithesis to fast fashion and hence, buying fewer garments that can be handed down as heirlooms is a privilege one must exercise, Richa feels. “We want to create a global platform to celebrate Odisha’s textile legacy, the intricacy of techniques, and community histories. Boito should be recognised as a niche luxury label with a wider cultural footprint. Additionally, we want to explore design collaborations with artisans who create various crafts unique to the state, like
pattachitra, dokra, papier mâché, coir craft, and lacquer dolls, and foster a creative economy amalgamating craft, culture, art, and fashion.”
That Boito doesn’t sit neatly within the established ‘luxury’ framework, doesn’t bother this visionary. “For us, luxury means time, care, depth, and the privilege of knowing where your creation comes from. Our philosophy is to honour craft traditions while reimagining them for contemporary relevance. Globally, we want to be seen as a movement that champions rural wisdom through future-forward designs,” Richa ends on an aspiratory note.
“We want to create a global platform to celebrate Odisha’s textile legacy, the intricacy of techniques, and community histories. Boito should be recognised as a niche luxury label with a wider cultural footprint.”