It started with Charmi looking for clothes for her own children.
An atelier for children’s occasion wear · Made by hand in Surat · By Charmi Shah and her brother Utsav
A small atelier in Surat, making occasion wear for children in numbers you can count. Nothing is cut until someone asks for it.
She was looking for something special for Ziva and Meer — Indian clothes that felt a little different, but were still comfortable enough for them to actually enjoy wearing.
She couldn't find quite what she had in mind.
So she started making it herself.
First for Ziva and Meer, and then slowly for other children too. Somewhere along the way, what started at home became kachche dhaage.
02 · The Namekachche dhaage — raw threads.
The name has less to do with fabric than you might think.
Children are a little like raw threads. They're still growing, changing, figuring out who they're going to become. And the things they grow up with — the celebrations, the clothes, the photographs, the people around them — become part of their childhood.
That's where kachche dhaage comes from.
bachpan ke sapno ka pehnava
Being a mother changes the way Charmi designs.
Of course, she wants the clothes to look beautiful. But she also knows that five minutes into a wedding, a child wants to run around. At Navratri, they're going to dance. At a family function, they'll probably end up sitting on the floor somewhere.
So comfort isn't something we add at the end. It affects the fabric, the fit and the way a piece is made from the beginning.
We're based in Surat, surrounded by textiles, and Charmi chooses the fabrics and works on each design herself.
They should look dressed up without feeling like they have to behave dressed up.
We don't keep racks of finished clothes waiting to be sold.
When you choose a piece, we first confirm the size with you. If you'd like a different colour and the fabric allows it, we'll work that out too. Only then do we start making it.
It isn't the fastest way to make clothes, but for us, it makes more sense.
Children grow differently. And if we're making something for your child, we'd rather know who we're making it for first.
kachche dhaage is run by siblings Charmi and Utsav Shah.
Charmi designs the clothes. She's usually the one thinking about a new silhouette, changing a detail, choosing between fabrics or deciding that something still isn't quite right.
Utsav handles much of what happens around the clothes — orders, timelines, coordination and making sure things actually move when they're supposed to.
They started kachche dhaage together, and they're still closely involved in what goes out.
So when you message us about a size, a colour or whether something can reach you before a particular date, you're not speaking to a large customer-care team.
You're speaking to us.