#MCCOTInterview {49}
Priti Pugalia, the Jaipur-based Indian female ecopreneur and committed designer who pays tribute to her heritage by celebrating and supporting Indian most precious and finest craftsmanship
Graduated and trained in Fashion design, Indian-born Priti Pugalia felt literally in love with the craftsmanship of her beloved homeland when she was a student. And just like that, this deep fascination of hers soon became a true and genuine calling. Designing thoughtful, well-designed goods slowly (packaging, home decor accessories...) and ethically made through craft and shaped by human hands was exactly what she was meant to do with her life. Since 2015, the year she made the bold and challenging decision to take the field and established Craft Boat, her Jaipur-based multi disciplinary design cum manufacturing space, she is a passionate, skilled and resilient female slowpreneur with a mission: Echoing the voices of the Indian female and male makers and master artisans she teams up with. Supporting them with all her energy and promoting their detailed and unique artisanal hard work behind the scenes abroad. Collaborating with international committed-to-the-environment brands that share the same core values. Niche labels that are looking for very special and sophisticated objects that perfectly fit their brand identities and tell their stories. Traditionally and sustainably unique and refined bespoke creations designed and produced with dedication in small batches exclusively for them. Like emerging and promising Parisian ethical and eco-conscious fine jewelry- handcrafted in a Jaipur-based workshop by skilled and trusty artisans- for soul and style Maison MARATHI founded by French-Greek former top manager and creative director Cécile Aviérinos, whose motto is 'without spirituality, beauty has no soul'. A close-knit creative and commercial partnership between two passion-driven founders who are aligned and put excellency, sustainability and ethicality as priorities of theirs, that started by chance in 2023 and keeps going. Grateful for having found her own path, the only one that makes her happy despite the numerous daily challenges that she had to cope with in the last decade, Priti is more than ever faithful to her original and high-minded commitment and is now willing to do more and more to keep connecting talented Indian makers and international founders. Supported unconditionally by her father- who is also a businessman- on her side, she is starting this new decade with a positive attitude within her mind to consolidate her business and dream big. Because the little Craft Boat absolutely deserves to grow slowly but surely and make a difference as an ambassador and supporter of Indian craftsmanship.
By Hélène Battaglia
Who are you?
HI, I am Priti Pugalia, born and living in India.
Before embarking on a brand-new journey as a female entrepreneur, founder and creative director, which was your professional background?
I graduated in Fashion Design and began my career as a design and business development consultant for apparel brands.
What influenced you to make the bold decision of establishing your own niche Jaipur-based company in 2015?
I have always been drawn to the natural rhythms of the environment around me and the quiet intelligence behind how things come into being. During my college years, I closely observed the garment industry and found it hard to understand the urgency and excess it demanded. The constant pressure to produce more did leave me questioning the purpose behind it all.
At the same time, I felt a very natural connection to India’s craft traditions as a designer. Walking through the narrow lanes of Jaipur and watching artisans work with their hands felt like entering a dream that brought me closer to the truth of making. As a student, I loved documenting what I saw, and of many crafts I closely worked with, the humble process of recycling cotton waste into paper just blew my mind as to how much textile waste was being converted to paper. It felt like I had found my canvas.
From there, I slowly worked on bringing different craft communities together. Working with wood block carvers and hand block printers on recycled cotton paper felt more like play than work in the early days. The process was deeply meditative, and it gave me no reason to turn away. My focus was simply to be of some value to the craftsmen and their communities, maybe to shine a light on their skills, to be an eye for their hands and a voice for their tools and I kept doing it. Over time, it became a calling to create thoughtful, well designed products made through craft and shaped by human hands.
Why did you call it a Craft Boat?
Naming this journey was a very personal and philosophical influence of all that I was thinking and believing in, almost 9 years ago.
Craft - Because I wanted to touch and be associated with as many artisans skills as I can while building and growing with the company everyday, I wanted Craft to be the way of life.
Boat - In the early days of starting, stepping into entrepreneurship was like setting out on an uncertain journey. It required a lot of courage and lightness. I often told myself, "Stay light, and you’ll float. If you carry too much weight, you might sink.". To me, the boat became like my reminder for staying resilient, fluid and light. Also, then BOAT further made more sense because I started the journey with recycled paper and as a child the first thing I had learnt to make with paper was a boat :)
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What is exactly your business specialized in?
We started as a handmade paper making company & have recycled more than ten thousand tons of textile waste to create sheets of paper for home, office, & packaging products.
Based in Jaipur, India ~ our roots are tied to the multitude of art and design this city harbours.
Since our founding in 2015, Craft Boat has made an intentional effort to embrace all things handmade, rooted with Craft Stories, and analog in the design approach. Collaborating with artisan businesses from all around the world, we have created a close knit community of artisans, designers, women leaders, & nature lovers.
For brands looking for slow made goods, rooted in Earth-friendly practices, hand crafts, recycled paper products for home decor, stationery and packaging, textile developments for home decor and interiors and that need a team to partner with in India - our team shall be happy to hear from you and help you design, produce and plan your custom designs.
Why are craftsmanship, sustainability and ethicality so important to you as a human being and ecopreneur?
At a very early age I could not relate and feel comfortable in a fast-paced world. There was always something that felt out of balance when you see mindless production, lack of transparency. For me it is very important to leave something behind that is treasured and passed to the next generation and hence I have chosen the path of well-made (craftsmanship), circular material (sustainability), small batch manufacturing (ethically) entrepreneurial journey.
What makes your handcrafted creations special and resolutely out of the box?
I am not sure if anything is out of the box, but they are special as they are crafted with a lot of meticulous care and with time. They take multiple iterations and prototyting before they are finally launched. So perhaps that makes them special.
Which techniques do you use to reach this one-of-a-kind level of excellence?
We do follow a slow, human-centered, and craft-led design philosophy that values timeless analog aesthetics, usability, and deep collaboration with artisans through a customized, iterative process.
How much does your former training and experience in the fashion industry influence Craft Boat’s style?
Quite a lot ! I worked with a lot of craft clusters even while getting my formal training in the design college. That did open up a lot of how I approached craft-based design.
By the way, how and when your creative and commercial partnership with ethical and eco-conscious fine jewelry for soul and style Parisian Maison MARATHI was born?
It was started in early 2023, with Cécile visiting our studio in Jaipur.
What have you created for Cécile since then?
We have created a custom packaging for Cecile’s exquisite brand MARATHI. The packaging includes keepsake quilted jewelry pouches in cotton silk fabric. Recycled cotton handmade paper boxes, stickers, shopping bags and a unique Indian inspired Bahi style hand bound notebook name with fabric covering and inside pages with recycled cotton paper.
What do you particularly appreciate about the brand DNA?
I absolutely love the spiritual essence that the brand is designed around, it feels deeply connected to the founder and her values. I absolutely love the quality, and attention to small details that Cécile pours in every piece of Jewelry.
How difficult is it to fulfill the expectations and tastes of each client?
It is a time taking and a long process, we have to feel the client’s journey. Most of the clients that work with us have a deep understanding of their vision and do come to us with their extensive market experience too before they launch their own brand. This does make it a long process for us to match their expectations and understand the language of design, quality and overall aesthetic.
In 2025 in India, how sincerely challenging is it, on a daily basis, as a business woman to manage a flourishing business, be able to support and empower other women and celebrate and preserve precious Indian artisan heritage?
At this time of the year, it’s both quite exciting and challenging. I started Craft Boat almost a decade back when technology and fast-paced communication did not take over businesses the way it has in today’s time. The communication, designing pace, new product launch must be faster and get lost in the crowd much faster. In between all this, to hold of to your true values and mission is difficult, but I do not see it to be impossible. We do need to pivot a little bit and be conscious about not overwhelming ourselves too much with data and trends; so I try to keep a check on how much to stay updated and how much to hear my own intuition: in that way we do create a mindful balance of in general avoiding over consumption of data and information, so as to stay true to our inner voice which is to keep echoing the voice of the makers, and keep supporting slow-made goods.
How do you choose the skilled female and male makers you work with?
We mostly look for Skills and Years of Practice when hiring a master Artisan, but for overall hiring we do look for someone who has hunger to learn, is passionate to multi-disciplinary roles, and passionate about handmade products.
How do you typically spend your day as a busy and committed MRS Craft Boat?
My day starts slowly. I like my mornings to be slow, where I prefer spending time collecting my thoughts, yoga, some morning prayers before I finally get to starting the work day, which is typically divided between team general updates, some small next steps and vision planning or execution, some time overseeing new product developments.
From the launch a decade ago, what are you the proudest of having accomplished?
I am most proud of being able to build this Company alongside my Dad, who has been pouring his years of experience as a businessman ( though he has no background with handmade, product development but rather was selling batteries) in this company to help us build a strong foundation. That he believed in a business of this kind, and supported me to stay true to my passion, is my biggest accomplishment.
What do you wish for the near future for you and for your company?
I am slowly venturing into creating spaces for people to experience our products, maybe as a retail shop, as a workshop space, or a creative studio for residency programs. I would like to eventually give a more immersive experience to our clients, customers and makers. I am looking to help our artisans have more exposure with the vision of the clients who come to create their ideas with us. We want to keep building ways to bridge the world of makers with users.
All the pictures are Courtesy of Craft Boat and Marathi. All rights reserved.
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