A brand evolving from the kitchen: How Syama from Kollam creates thematic outfits honouring the earth

If you ever happen to be in the precincts of Anayadi Temple near Kottappuram in Kollam district in the morning, you might witness a rare scene of someone picking up flowers discarded from the temple after the rituals. Rest assured, this is for a noble cause as well as a creative task. For Syama S Madhu, a native of Kottappuram near Chakkuvally in Kollam district, they are the most valuable resource materials as well as a medium of her life's mission.

“I always wanted to create something by drawing from, and then giving back to, the earth, without doing any harm to the planet or humans. I feel happy by collecting the discarded flowers because I ensure that they do not end up in landfills, while it serves as a means to produce eco-printed fabrics, the vocation I have undertaken,” Syama says in a chat with Onmanorama.

The brand's name TERRAaMSh, with 'terra' meaning earth and 'amsh' in Malayalam meaning a portion, has been very thoughtfully conceptualised. It's a portion of earth that goes into the making of these sustainable outfits – a long, drawn-out process which Syama likens to the formation of oyster reefs in the sea.

“Oyster reefs take a long time to form. The rock patterns take shape after the sediments of the shells settle down. Eco-printing is also a time-consuming process along similar lines,” Syama says.

The eco-printing process
First, the fabric is pre-treated, and then flowers discarded from temples or any other events are sourced for designing it by extracting their stain. “It is done the way an oyster reef takes shape. That is the reason why the oyster reef has been adopted as the theme of the brand. Both are organic and natural,” Syama says. “To sustain the colour of the flower on the fabrics, we pre-treat it using alum or any other mordant. It's a 14-day procedure. We lay the plants or flowers on the fabric, roll it, and then steam it. It is in the steaming that the colour pigments are extracted onto the fabric. The designs may vary each time and are not expected to come out the way we had visualised,” she adds.

No two designs from the same plant genus will have the same colour. According to Syama, seasons change plants' properties, and this feature reflects on the shades of the prints. “We usually get yellow colour when we extract marigold flowers discarded from temples. But when we treat it further, we get black colour, and we don't use chemicals, but alum,” she says.

Syama claims that flowers are collected as soon as they are discarded. “We avoid them if they start decaying in the rain, because it will be tough to process them in that condition. The emotional quotient in the whole program is that the flowers offered to God are given a new lease of life without allowing them to add to the tonnage of waste,” she says.

How it all started
“In 2015, when I was carrying, I searched for organic fabric material all over, in vain. Later, in 2018, I saw a video of Sadhguru's interview in connection with Lakme Fashion Week, in which he exhorted people to discard synthetic materials and use natural or organic fabric. As a fashion student myself, that struck me, and I started researching it. Eventually, I learned that the fashion industry was the second-largest pollution-causing industry in the world, and in the meantime, I gained access to natural as well as handloom fabrics like Kala cotton, linen, silk, mostly from Himachal Pradesh. All I needed further was methods for colouring,” she says.

But she didn't want to follow conventional colouring techniques used by designers, as they involved chemicals and caused pollution. She searched for natural colouring methods using hand-dyes followed by the ancient people, and techniques for printing. The tedious pursuit finally landed her in Indonesia, where eco-printing was quite prevalent as a national vocation. “I had initially tried to learn it from YouTube, but then, I found it didn't have the perfection,” she said.

Natural dyeing and printing
There are two steps to designing the outfit. The first is brewing the flower petals (or leaves) and extracting colours; the next is dipping the pre-treated fabric into the colour for natural dyeing. For printing, flower or other plant components are placed on the treated fabric, which is then rolled and steamed. We need to explore all the plants available locally to know the patterns they provide. Not all plants give the designs we expect. So, we need to know which plant gives what design and arrange them accordingly to get the desired pattern. There is also a technique of winding the fabric with the colour-inducing natural materials inside.

Finding the market
Syama says that her outfits are marketed through Instagram. Sales are promoted through exhibitions, where awareness programs about eco-printing are also conducted. “People are just getting to know about this now. When I started out in 2018, even those around me scoffed at it and wondered why I plucked flowers to design fabrics. However, the scenario changed when I conducted an exhibition in 2022; people wanted to know whether the colour would fade, survive a wash, among other things,” she says.

Syama claims that her brand's outfits are mostly bought by people who are conscious about it. They need not be briefed on eco-printing. For those who have never seen eco-printed material before, distinguishing them from ordinary designs will be a challenge. Imperfection is one of the cues that mark an eco-printed cloth. But a perfect pattern can also be brought about in it. And, I follow both.

Revenue generation
It's doing well, Syama says. The price may sound slightly high for people who are not conscious about it. But those who know will be content with where they are investing. The question she faces constantly is why the brand is pricey. The answer is, primarily, it is handmade. Then, it's a tiresome and time-consuming process, which involves a lot of effort. Above all, the designs are unique. Once created, they are never replicated. “I do it alone. No one else is involved in it. I do the rolling, steaming, and printing in the kitchen. I do mainly custom-order outfits, as mass production can lead to wastage. I make apparel, including kidswear. The price for a sari ranges from ₹4,000 to ₹15,000; tops start from ₹2,500, while T-shirts start from ₹999,” she says and adds, “we also provide Keepsake costumes by saving moments to remember on them.”

Syama did her graduation from Assumption College in Changanassery, Kottayam, and then pursued a crash course at NIFT, Bengaluru. Syam V R, her husband, works with a renewable energy entity in the UAE. For the mother of 10-year-old twins, it is a sustainable, thematic clothing business model that should be emulated by more designers for the Earth's cause.

Syama maintains a colossal connection with values, whether it's work, human relationships or her approach towards nature. Even the label TERRAaMSh is a deeply thought-out name, which she arrived at with four months of research, with the two letters M and S being the first letters of the names of her father and mother, respectively. It's out of love and respect for them that she carved out such a name. "The capital letters M and S in aMSh are intentional. They stand for my parents, Madhu and Sheela, whose love, sacrifices, and support have shaped who I am today. This name is not just an identity, it is a tribute, a reminder that everything I build carries a part of them within it," she says.