Nasana Bajracharya

About the practice

Rekriti began when founder Nasana Bajracharya saw unsold clothing discarded after Dashain shopping in New Road, Kathmandu, and later witnessed the scale of fabric waste generated by textile factories. Those experiences led to a simple but urgent question: what could be done with clothing and fabric that no longer had a place in the market? The answer became Rekriti, a business built around the circular-economy principles of reuse and repurpose. Its main raw materials are discarded denim and twill collected from factories, tailor shops, thrift stores and households. The organisation also receives textile donations and works directly with customers to transform their own old jeans and garments into customised bags. Over four years, Rekriti has upcycled around 2,200 kg of jeans, worked with more than 700 customers who brought in old denim, and created income opportunities for 11 women artisans. Six women currently receive consistent work, while five are engaged during busier production periods. Rekriti’s production model is deliberately collaborative. Its internal team sorts suitable fabric, cuts materials and prepares them for design; home-based tailors and women’s groups then complete much of the sewing. This structure makes space for skilled women whose caregiving responsibilities can make conventional full-time employment difficult. The brand has also learned that sustainability alone cannot carry a product. Its guiding principle is that “the product is the hero”: an upcycled bag must be beautiful, useful and well made, not simply virtuous. That insight has shaped Rekriti’s investment in product development, marketing and customer experience. Since 2025, Rekriti has taken its work beyond the studio through five Upcycling Mela events at colleges, involving around 150 students and 20 teachers in bringing old jeans for transformation and participating in hands-on upcycling activities.