Miraaish is a homegrown brand of consciously handcrafted jewelry and home accents, that was born during the lockdown. A creative play of fabric, metal, beads, shells and more under the skilled hands of its artisans gives each Miraaish piece a distinctive style and character, unique to its own.
All Miraaish pieces are creative, original, repeatable, artisanal and well-made in small batches at our studio in Delhi.
The brand is the brainchild of a creative mother-daughter duo based of Delhi. The most fascinating and inspiring thing about Miraaish’s beginning is how Meera Jain, Co-Founder of the brand pushed all odds to begin her entrepreneurial journey at the age of 63 to pursue her lifelong creative dream, all right in the middle of the pandemic.
MIRAAISH’S BEGINNING – HOW IT STARTED
The seed of Miraaish first sown in a small room in Delhi just after a few weeks into the first lockdown in 2020. And it all started with Shanam (Co-Founder) asking her mother (MEERA, Co-Founder) to teach her how to do a basic stitch as she felt it was a life skill that she should learn. Both of them had no idea that it would eventually become Step 1 of what we now know as Miraaish.
Within a few weeks, they were dabbling with random things to give their collective creative ideas shape and form. And gradually, they started designing jewelry made of fabric, using whatever materials they had access to. It was all hobby and a conscious effort to use time productively up until this point. And then one fine day, they decided to share their creative aesthetic with the rest of the world and the brand MIRAAISH was born in 2021, just before the second lockdown.
So, Miraaish’s journey is quite serendipitous in a lot of ways, because it kept creating itself without any concrete plan.
OUR INSPIRATION
If Miraaish’s inspiration has to be just 2 words, then they would be Creativity and Perseverance.
Because those are and those were the only things at work when the brand came into being.
As founders, we both jam over ideas and let our hearts have fun while creating. We break the rules, bend the rules, because we don’t know the rules. It’s like our lack of formal training in jewelry or designing gives us that extra edge to look at things from a different perspective and we let it take the lead, without ever giving up on it.
OUR STRUGGLES
Starting a brand in the middle of the pandemic turned out to be more challenging than was imagined or anticipated. There were many roadblocks – Markets were closed due to the lockdowns so we did not have access to any raw materials or tools we needed, we did not have any skilled personnel in the beginning plus the other challenges that come with any new brand or business launch were already there to get the better of us. We remember how one vendor did not deliver our packaging material for two months and later stood us up. And this was in addition to the menace that the second Covid wave was for everyone. It was quite difficult, but we kept placing one foot after the other to keep going. (Thanks to my mom and my partner who insists on never stopping!)
OUR VICTORIES
Our biggest victory is Miraaish itself. As it was something we never thought would happen to us or planned for but it did.
But there have been a few moments that delighted us within 3 months of our launch:
- We sold out some of our collections as soon as they launched
- We launched zero-waste, multi-use and our first-ever Rakhi Collection called Keepsake Rakhis. The collection was very well-received
- Our Keepsake Rakhi Collection was noticed by REFASH – The world’s first platform for upcylcled fashion, which later turned into a collaboration where our rakhis were selling on their platform
- Our Keepsake Rakhi Collection was featured on RAAHA CONSULTING, a USA and India based consulting agency focussed on artisan community under their curated guide of ‘Sustainable Rakhi Brands for 2021’
- Miraaish was featured by RAC Ingenious Minds for their curated list of Eco-Friendly Rakhi brands
ABOUT CO-FOUNDERS
Miraaish is literally Meera + Shanam – a creative product of a mother-daughter duo.
MEERA JAIN (Co-Founder; age 63) is a creativity enthusiast, culinary wizard and a passionate home-maker. Despite being busy with building the life of her kids through most of her adult life, she always kept time to dabble with her creative interests and extend a kind hand to whoever she could. An extremist in positive thinking, she is a team player anyone would want by their side.
SHANAM JAIN (Co-Founder, age 33) dons another hat as well of being a luxury travel designer at Maurya Travels, where she plans holidays for discerning travellers to all over the world. A Biotech engineer by education, a wanderer at heart, and a lot of other things in between, she is a concoction of different flavours of life, and she enjoys it.
OUR PRODUCTS
- Keepsake Rakhis: Our first ever collection of Rakhis and Lumbas that are 100% zero waste and resuable. They combined tradition with a slightly more modern aesthetic to extend themselves for reuse.
- Anklets: Our anklets are the perfect resort wear accessory or a jewel to amp up your everyday look. The combine shells, trinklets, colour, fabric and more for a fun yet glam look.
- Gulaer Bracelet: Our fabric bracelet Gulaer is one of our bestsellers. It is the perfect example of boho-chic and is made using fabric, silver balls and raw seashells. It is perfect for someone who likes a dash of colour.
- Zooni Neckpiece: This is an instant head-turner as it is truly one-of-a-kind. It’s a mini choker from our latest collection ‘Paardis’ which is inspired from the thought – nature is paradise. It is so unique that it sold out the same day it launched.
- Fabric and Cord Collection: This collection is for the woman who likes to experiment and take it to her workspace. It’s light-weight, easy going yet quirky.
