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Anuschka™ is a unique creation that blends art and functionality with élan. Anuschka is the premier, original hand painted brand available at select boutiques and shoe stores across 20 countries. Anuschka™ original art styles have been setting industry trends for decades. Founded by Swapan Basu and his wife, Roma, Anuschka™ continues to be the only family owned, designed, manufactured and distributed one-of-a-kind hand painted collection. Their son, Bhaskar joined the family business over a decade ago and continues to bring the same passion and commitment to the family tradition. With all of its global expansion, Anuschka™ has remained true to its core values and is dedicated to employing craftsmen and artisans who would otherwise struggle with unemployment and economic hardship.
The Founders
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Back in the early 80’s when Swapan Basu chanced upon the opportunity to make hand painted accessories, he was quick to seek help from his best friend and life partner, Roma. In 1984, Roma started designing hand painted bags while developing the process and refining the method of painting over the years. Today it is a closely guarded family tradition. We are not a typical large factory churning out a million black bags- we are small, intimate and we work together as a family. Even today, Roma and Swapan are in the workshop every day, overseeing the production and ensuring that every Anuschka™ that leaves the workshop lives up to the integrity of the brand.
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Next Generation Designer
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Swapan and Roma’s son, Bhaskar, grew up watching his parents working hard to build their business. He spent many summers working with them, watching his mother design and train artisans and his father select the leathers and coordinate the process flow. When it was time for Bhaskar to pursue his college education, he chose to look outside of India in order to get a more global perspective on how businesses were run outside of Asia. He received a degree in Business Administration from Boston University’s School of Management. During his very first year in school, he was asked to write about his career goals in one of his management classes. His response was inspired by the decision his father took early in his career to quit his job and get into business. His father’s approach towards ‘working for himself and building a successful and fulfilling business’ left a lasting impression on Bhaskar. Bhaskar dreamt of taking the business started by his parents to greater heights after completing university, and growing it on a global scale.
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In 2000, with Swapan’s assistance, Bhaskar gathered enough funds to start The Basu Group. The Basu Group sold its first Anuschka™ handbag in USA in September 2000. Soon Bhaskar started travelling across America and Europe, researching the market and learning more about fashion trends. Initially, Anuschka™ defied mainstream fashion norms and Bhaskar realized that he would have to tap deeper into his talents and expand into a wider arena of art. He inspired his mother to be bold with her designing and also started contributing his own art concepts. As Anuschka™ started to grow, Bhaskar’s involvement in designing grew deeper. Today, the mother and son duo work as a team and have succeeded in consistently creating exotic and original designs inspired by nature as well as latest fashion trends across the globe.
After a modest start with a couple of artisans in a tiny workshop, today Anuschka™ is being individually hand painted by over 75 highly skilled artisans working under the guidance of Roma and Bhaskar. You can find their one-of-a-kind designs across USA, Canada, Bahamas, Great Britain, Australia, Mexico, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Cyprus, Lebanon and Russia.
The Art
Anuschka™ bags are a feast for the eyes with their vibrant colors and elegant design elements. The wide range of abstracts and natural scenes depicted in all shades and hues transforms each handbag into an object of timeless art. By combining the beauty of nature with the latest in runway fashion, Anuschka™ has Redefined Wearable Art. Every Anuschka™ creation is unique and truly a contemporary masterpiece on leather. The casual, bohemian and comfortable styling complements the sophisticated woman who appreciates one-of-a-kind designs and exceptional craftmanship.
The commercial production of the artwork translates to one accessory at a time, as the personalized and individual workmanship is an integral part of each creation. The artisans take pride in the creation of every piece and view them as distinctive works of art, like no other. The rich and supple cowhide is specially created and carefully selected, allowing for the art to age like fine wine while getting enriched and attracting even more compliments over the years.
The Features
We approach fashion through intelligent creativity and try to strike the right balance between functionality and art - making every Anuschka accessory qualified ‘wearable art’! The Anuschka™ story doesn’t end with its original art or its fine leather, but simply begins with it. To add sense to sophistication, Anuschka™ pays attention to the intricate details such as practical features, compartments and adjustable shoulder straps, key fobs, cell phone pockets and security pockets, precise handcrafted workmanship, signature lining, custom made hardware and branded sliders. Anuschka accessories are always elegant and handmade lovingly with thoughtful detailing.
Finding Artisans
During the early days, Roma had to overcome the hurdle of finding capable artisans to paint her designs on the handbags. A real artist would never agree to spending hours in a factory painting the same design over and over again. Therefore, when faced with the challenge of recruiting talented artisans to hand paint handbags individually and in large quantities to meet market demand, Roma set out to hire unemployed and economically challenged young adults with a basic sense of art and an eagerness to learn. They were taught leather painting skills by Roma at the family’s workshop. Over the years, these skills helped them earn an honest living and provide for their families. It also helped them establish a sustainable career with the company. Today, Roma’s success is proven by these very same dedicated artisans who are still working with the company and giving back to their communities by recruiting others who are facing the same income challenges in their lives. Roma is still in the workshop every day interacting with the experienced artisans as well as their apprentices and coaching them to develop their skills.
The Power of Giving:
Each Anuschka is individually painted in our family workshop, not by professional artists but by young men and women who have been trained by us and enjoy the benefits of our fair trade policies. We passionately believe that every bag we sell takes our artisans a step closer to building a better life. Our fair trade policies ensure that our artisans are paid higher rates than similar skilled workers in other industries. We support their efforts with health insurance for their families and retirement benefits. All this goes a long way to inspire them to work hard and build a better future. They are happy to be able to afford the simple things that we take for granted- to have electricity in their homes, to send their children to school and to save for their retirement. The original business challenge has evolved into a unique community engagement which is continuously giving back to the people and the families that make this unique product possible. We are happy that we are able to make a difference to so many lives and give back to the community which has helped us reach this far. Swapan and Roma could not have hoped for a better reward. |
