Breethe was born out of the need to be creatively useful during the Covid-19 crisis.

It all began in Bengaluru, India in April 2020, as the world slipped into quarantine and locked itself up, offering precious moments to contemplate and think creatively.

Confined at home and faraway from family and friends, Geetika Yeshwantrao, a student of fashion design with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bengaluru, India was eager to make a meaningful difference.

Made to shell out  an astronomical amount for a flimsy face mask then, a decision was firmed up to stitch the face masks, the one product which was then scarce and was termed as a life-saver.

From here on began the battle with unforeseen challenges.

Sourcing fabric and other essentials were just about impossible as curfew orders forced a complete closure.

Following a month-long wait, a small quantity of white cotton fabric and elastic band was purchased from the retail store which opened shutters briefly during the day.

Using turmeric powder, coffee beans, avocado, beetroot, marigold flowers and onion skin, a range of dyes were prepared at home and the white fabric was soaked for hours in multiple vessels and washed and dried twice to ensure color retention.

A first set of 10 masks, hand-stitched and home-dyed, was given to my local guardian, Karthik uncle, whose kind words of encouragement and appreciation inspired a repeat of the experiment.

The second set of masks, embellished with hand-stitched embroidery and provided with sachets carrying small portion of aromatic condiments to eliminate the odour of breath, also fetched positive feedback.

After several such home experiments, it was decided to scale up the making of masks using natural fabric and sensitize people to build a sustainable relationship between nature and humanity.