Kadam Haat in London: The Story of Our Summer Totes
The Summer Tote is the bag you reach for on a Tuesday morning, a Saturday market run, and a Sunday at the lido. Lightweight enough to forget you are carrying it. Roomy enough for a laptop, a swimsuit, a small watermelon. Made not in a factory, but by hand, by women in the villages of West Bengal.
This is the story of how it gets to London.
The material: sabai grass
Sabai is a wild grass that grows across the eastern stretches of the Indian subcontinent, mostly in West Bengal and Odisha. It is strong, flexible, biodegradable, and rich in silica, which means it needs almost no water to grow. For generations, artisans in this region have woven sabai into baskets, mats and rope. The Summer Tote is part of that lineage, sized for modern wardrobes.
The process
Each tote moves through three pairs of hands:
Harvesting and cleaning. Sabai is cut by hand, washed, sun-dried, and sorted by thickness. Different crops yield slightly different colours, which is why no two of our totes are identical.
Natural dyeing. The grass is dyed in small batches using natural pigments. The teal, red, orange, beige and charcoal in our collection are all hand-dyed.
Weaving. A single tote can take days to weave. The base, the body and the contrast vegan leather straps are all done by hand. There is no machine that can replicate the texture.
The makers: Kadam Haat
Our totes are made by the women of Kadam Haat, a social enterprise based in West Bengal and founded by Payal Nath in 2006. Kadam Haat is one of the most respected names in India's natural-fibre craft sector. Over nearly two decades, it has trained more than 10,000 rural artisans across six states. Around 600 women in West Bengal weave sabai grass with Kadam Haat full-time.
Kadam Haat is supported by UNESCO, the HCL Foundation, the Government of India and partners like Tata Realty. Its founder, Payal Nath, has been named among NITI Aayog's Women Transforming India and recognised by the World Economic Forum as an Iconic World Leader. The organisation received the Nexus of Good Annual Award in 2025 for its work building sustainable livelihoods.
Every tote is Craftmark certified, meaning it has been verified as genuine Indian handicraft, and is 100% biodegradable.
Five colours, final pieces
The Summer Tote comes in five colours: Deep Teal, Natural Beige, Bright Red, Warm Orange and Charcoal Black. Each colour has its own personality. Teal is the quiet versatile one. Beige is the classicist. Red and orange are the joy. Black is the city dweller.
These are the last Kadam Haat totes we will carry in London. We are not restocking. When a colour sells out, it is gone.
What it carries
A beach kit. An office set-up. A Sunday market haul. A weekender, folded inside a suitcase. A bouquet from Columbia Road. A baby's first day-out essentials. A change of clothes after the gym.
This is an epitome of what a hand-made bag can hold, and what it can mean.