Once Upon a Doug is turning a cloud into a fashion accessory 

Presenting the harsh realities of cotton farming in India to the world as a fashion accessory, the not-for-profit Once Upon a Doug is creating a line of handcrafted keepsakes
Doug_(8)
Doug_(8)

Remember the Follow Me To series that took social media by storm, where photographer Murad Osmann snapped pictures of his girlfriend leading him through some of the world's most iconic landmarks? The Instagram page for Once Upon a Doug is pretty similar. The only difference is that in this case, little colourful cloud-like trinkets find themselves being photographed across the world —  a bridge in NYC, the Golden Temple in Amritsar and even by a road in Valparaiso, Chile. Part of an initiative by Mumbai-based entrepreneur Apurva Kothari, these cloud-shaped keepsakes bring into focus the dichotomy between public and a farmer’s understanding of nature, especially with clouds.  


Community conscious 
Now, what significance could a fluffy white cloud that occurs in the natural scheme of things bear on us, except to be immortalised in our childhood drawings or admired on a bright sunny day?  “To a cotton farmer, clouds could be the difference between a proper harvest or financial doom,” he explains. Presenting the harsh realities of cotton farming in India to the world as a fashion accessory, the not-for-profit Once Upon a Doug is creating a line of handcrafted keepsakes in the form of a symbolic cloud. “We wanted to create something that is directly relevant and could spotlight the cotton farming communities in the country. Using a cloud as a representative image was reached upon unanimously after consulting the women we work with,” Apurva shares. Collaborating with students of Pearson College, London, for the social media presence and marketing, the brand that is celebrating its fifth anniversary has just made inroads into global markets in New Zealand, Ibiza and Norway.


Recycle rules
A subsidiary of fair-trade apparel label No Nasties, the brand works extensively with women from farming communities in the Vidarbha region. Named after the Marathi word Dhug which means cloud, every Doug is created using colourful scrapped tees and repurposed fabrics. Handstitched, every cloud has a silver lining (quite literally) and a thread transforms at the back this symbol into an accessory of your choosing — a bracelet, a necklace, a headband, a keychain or a bookmark. “The possibilities of how Doug can be used are endless. We’ve had people from across the world taking pictures with Doug from all over — sometimes with their pets, sometimes on their treks.”

Pack of 10 priced at Rs 1,000.

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