What if you were told you were a prime suspect for failing a hygiene test? And wait, not just you, but most people? Radhi Parekh speaks how considerate choices of apparel can make a considerable difference to the environment, towards nurturing exquisite indigenous textile traditions and towards sustaining artisan livelihoods eventually enabling their empowerment. Full of aesthetic insights and inspiring stories, Radhi’s talk encourages us to nurture a sensibility of refined tastes that also eliminates toxic waste.

Radhi Parekh, a graduate in Visual Communications from the National Institute of Design (NID, Class of 1980), returned to India in 2009 from a career spanning two decades, three continents, and several technologies. From designing and illustrating children’s books at Usborne Publishing, London, and multimedia games in San Francisco, to creating online software solutions in Silicon Valley for Oracle and eBay| Paypal, Radhi helped expand their footprint by advocating localization, to build truly global products. In 2011, Radhi founded ARTISANS’ a social enterprise ‘where art craft and design converge’ in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. She insists “Indian handicrafts lose their Third World, cheap and cheerful” tag and is convinced of the need to exhibit and support handmade Indian luxury products “before they become obsolete”.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at

source