Adira – Thoughtful Gifting was co-founded by Kadambari Misra, 1 and a half years ago. She started Adira with a motive to put more thought and care into corporate gifting. During her job in the corporate world, she couldn’t help feeling there is immense scope for improvement in corporate gifting. She believes gifting should be based on aesthetics, reusability and thoughtfulness.
A versatile design practitioner, Kadambari has led impactful projects in diverse areas such as print, brand campaigns, spatial design, store design, visual merchandising and bespoke gifting. A graduate of NID Ahmedabad, she has been Creative Director at prominent brands such as Coffee Day and Ola, and the Brand Experience Lead at Titan Company (Zoya).
During our conversation with Kadambari, she recounts the inception of her brand. She also highlights the representation of India’s heritage showcased by every one of the products handcrafted by this cultural enterprise.
Brewing the Idea – How Adira was established
I am a designer by profession and worked in the corporate sector for several years. At this point, having led creative teams for a few years, I decided to start out on my own, and co-founded Adira to make gifting more impactful and caring.
I also wanted to make it handicraft based, simply because of our rich cultural and handcrafted heritage. I was moved by the timelessness of the art and crafts industry of our country and wanted to portray it through our curation of products and designs.
Thoughtfulness in each package – Telling the story of art through products
We wanted to differentiate from regular gifting – so we decided to weave a story through each of our packages, narrating what has gone into each box. Every finished box tells the story of its inspiration, going beyond the product itself to celebrate the thought, emotion and artistry behind it.
We work with a lot of artisans, craftspeople as well as people from the textile industry to give our products a richly handcrafted feel.
Thinking outside the “box” – The importance of sustainable gifting
Most of our customers love tea in their gifts. There’s great feedback about the ceramics that go along with it too – most of which come from Haryana and some from Pondicherry. The highlight for some is the round boxes that we pack the gifts in – people have written back about their reusability time and time again.
All the fabrics are sourced by us, and then skilfully clad on the box.
Finding the right aesthetic – Working with artisans and designers
Having been in the design industry for almost 18 years, we work closely with local artisans from different parts of India.
Handicrafts v/s Homogeneity – Focusing on the specialty of hand-made products
While sending out packages to our corporate clients, we have to explain that each piece is special and unique.
Establishing a brand purpose – Challenges along the way
When I had a revelation about the lack of proper gifting, Adira was still an idea in my head. Looking back, I’m glad I pursued it full time along with my then co-founder. It was a well thought out business idea but it was difficult to break through into this already overcrowded market. It helped that our concept and product was so differentiated.
We had a really good start with a decent number of client orders, and our current market is mostly companies that gift their employees. We generally work with senior management to figure out the purpose and occasion before curating packages for them. We dived straight into the enterprise because there was a sense of belief in the idea that was brewing, and despite constant challenges, it’s been a good year for us.
Immortality of Indian Culture – Collaboration with NICEorg
In my travels to several countries, I have yet to see one that offers anywhere close to the variety in handicrafts that India has. This thought is what led me to name my brand Adira – which is Hebrew for strong and resilient.
It’s a great initiative to be recognised as a cultural entrepreneur by being a part of the NICE Community. I am looking forward to conversations and connections that this wonderful collaboration will lead to.
NICEorg wishes Adira best of luck in their journey ahead! If your cultural enterprise is in any of our five focus sectors and you would be interested in being featured, write to us at namaste@niceorg.in
