If you've followed Cottedge for a while, you may remember Achada - a textile I came across during my travels in India earlier this year, and immediately knew I wanted to work with.

Achada is the cloth placed underneath fabric during the traditional block-printing process to absorb excess dye. It's reused again and again, and over time, layers of dye and overlapping prints build up across the cloth, creating completely unexpected patterns. Once it reaches the end of its practical life, it's typically discarded or repurposed.

I had seen Achada before, but it wasn't until I spotted several pieces drying in the sun in Bagru, India, that I really noticed their beauty. Each looked almost like an abstract painting and no two were alike. I almost immediately began experimenting with turning these into wearable art, using simple silhouettes that let the fabric speak for itself.

Giving Achada a Second Life

This fall, that idea is finally coming to life at Cottedge.

We're turning these reclaimed textiles into reversible jackets, pants, and skirts, pairing one-of-a-kind Achada with traditional block-printed cotton on the reverse.

Wear the painterly Achada side one day and the block print the next. The two sides tell different parts of the same story: the block print is the finished textile, while the Achada carries the marks of the process behind it.

Each jacket, pant, and skirt is naturally unique, giving a textile that had reached the end of its original life an entirely new one.

The first Cottedge Achada pieces are coming this fall, and we are so excited! Stay tuned.