About Us
About Us
In the world of mass produced machine manufacturing, The Cotton Basket, which began as an experiment, soon became a unique company for Sleepwear and Home Linen. Over the years we have maintained our principal Values of Creativity, Quality and Style.
Each new collection is curated with an expression and perspective of our core brand values. The Cotton Basket employs traditional printing, dying and weaving techniques, using pure Cotton, Linen, Silk or Cashmere in their most natural forms, hand crafted so as to provide our customers Luxury at its Simplest.
Our Story
It all started in the summer of 2003 when Kanwal Oberoi as an entrepreneur arrived in UAE and was in the process of setting up her new abode. Very soon it became evident that it was impossible to search for basics like cotton nightwear or home linen as the availability was limited to polyester or its blends as fabric. Based on this experience the concept of The Cotton Basket started to take shape. The idea was to introduce light weight, breathable sleepwear, practical and suitable for the weather of the region. The strong support of her daughter Sachi, an Architect by profession with creative design sensibilities gave the direction to The Cotton Basket to be known as a store with creativity and as it stands today.
It was obvious that soon handmade and hand embroidered home linen was to be added to complement the sleepwear. Once this concept was clear the limits were endless. The next step was the introduction of Cotton Lounge wear and easy d ay wear.
In this beautiful journey of 10 years, we have been able to build a strong customer base. Our customers like us for our innovative designs which are stylish, comfortable and yet affordable.
Our Concepts
"We Make Things That Tell a Story."
Each of our collections is a visual display of a story based on the history of different cultures. Some of our recent collections have been based on Turkish history, Iranian culture and Mughal Empire. The rich heritage of India has been captured by our stories through our collections.
Our work is influenced by artisan methods and production and not by the industrial concepts of mass production.
Without compromising on details, we research intensely and experiment, to find the designs we love and then we share them with you.
Our Styles and Creativity
Our styles are based on creating perspectives and relentlessly searching for new concepts to introduce variety in Lounge Wear, Sleep Wear and Home Linen. Our creativity is based on our ability to transcend traditional ideas and create meaningful forms through interpretation and imagination to inspire our designs. Our team specializes in all stages of the creative process of designing, manufacturing, photoshoots and store interiors.
All of our pieces are handmade by artisans and by dedicated teams of craftsmen and designers. The Cotton Basket is reflection of the collective of individuals artisans, designers and dreamers who rally together across cultures and continents to craft their collections. Each item is hand crafted, hand numbered and available only in limited quantities to ensure as extraordinary collection as the culture that inspired it.
Our Materials
Raw materials are extremely important for the essence of product quality. A careful selection process of top quality raw materials and suppliers ensures quality standards. Raw materials are often exclusively produced by the selected workshops to ensure the quality of the finished product. This is a promise we make to our customers. We prefer to work with only pure fabric like cotton, silk and linen.
Cotton in the purest form is comfortable, lightweight and soft to skin fabric that carries a high thread count. It is made up of finer threads using a close knit weave giving it the smooth feel and breathable quality.
Our Production & Manufacturing
Each project has its own needs and choice of elements that will lead to its realization into a finished product. In carefully selected small workshops where we work with artisans, our designs and concepts are understood and are given shape and form. (Our teams follow up continuously by regular inspections during Production and Manufacturing phase.) Each project has its own needs and the choice of the elements. Each collection stands out as products with a strong character in which creativity and materials come together to create a fine garment.
The production units are connected by a network of external manufacturing suppliers who work with us as our trusted partners. The manufacturers of fabric are selected based on parameters, aimed to ensure excellent quality with a special focus on durability and reliability of the raw material. These relationships are built on mutual trust, by working together, connecting with them through regular discussions and with a view toward constant improvement and learning.
Our Photoshoots
Our Branding photoshoots are strategically done with highly professional team where the creative director sets the mood rolling as per the theme of the collection. With each shoot we enrich our library of professional photos that showcase The Cotton Basket, our business, and our personality. The shoots are thoughtfully planned out, are creative and have created a buzz about our brand, what we do and our brand values.
Online Platform & Our Logistics
Since 2019, seeing the market trends, Cotton Basket invested in e commerce with an e shop website open for business to the UAE and GCC market. Over the last four years, the online platform has seen an impressive growth. The swift development of mobile devices and the evolution in the digital world, the soon to be launched “ thecottonbasket.com ” website will integrate both the retail site and the e commerce platform, allowing users to navigate the contents and focus on the shopping experience, from any device mobile, tablet and desktop the new website promises a high satisfaction user experience. The other exciting development is the online sales to international customers with the orders being shipped to USA and France.
The logistics of our finished products is concentrated in our Warehouse in Abu Dhabi. The logistics is managed by a team of highly efficient professionals coordinating the Inventory, Shipping, Customs handling and Distribution.
Our Retail: Online and Malls
Walking into a Cotton Basket store means stepping into the courtyard of an Indian heritage home with the basic features of a courtyard highlighting the involvement of customers and our team. The dresses and home linen are displayed around this feature for a complete experience. The style is welcoming, sophisticated and elegant giving out the vibes of a sustainable brand with a story to tell of the heritage of cultures in each of its collection. The collections are carefully crafted based on details and essential lines, harmonised with colour. The result is a perfect harmony between displayed dresses in an ideal intimate interiors.
Our stores are managed by carefully selected staff engaged in regular training activities to offer customers the best support to their shopping experience and to the understanding of the collections’ stylistic content, as well as the convey the values, heritage and culture represented by the products themselves.
Our Social Responsibility
The Cotton Basket is actively though silently involved in charities and social work .We seek growth linked to working with medium scale workshops which is in turn providing economic upliftment and respect to the group of people we work with. T he children and families of artisans working with us are are given timely medical support. We work towards sustainable fashion away from the process set up in big factories amidst machines. In our small way we aim to revive the artistic heritage and regional values. We support and give back to the community we work with.
The Cotton Basket, as a brand nurtures a great passion for animals and their rights for a cruelty free world. The Cotton Basket is actively involved and promotes several campaigns about the defence of animal rights: supporting charities in India and in UAE. We work passionately against the abandonment and mistreatment of pets. Our future collections will see a part of the sales go the dog shelters in UAE.
In 2020 at the time of the crisis of Silo fires in Lebanon, The Cotton Basket donated generously to ATAYA, The Red Crescent Charity, to help the families of the victims of the Silo fires.
Our Relationships
Our relationships with our suppliers are important to us as they are the understand and create the concepts we dream of. The well nurtured business relationships with our suppliers have turned into successful strategic alliances, based on shared risks and shared rewards strategy. We strongly believe that such alliances can eventually result in a great sustainable business performance. Our customers are equally important as they are the backbone of our business.
