Shortly after settling into their Bombay lives, and a year before they would release NorBlack NorWhite’s first collection, Mriga and Amrit discovered Kala Raksha, a non-profit specializing in reviving the textile techniques of the Kutch region, in the western state of Gujarat. “We went there without even thinking about a collection,” Mriga recalls. “We saw their archive and their textile library and were both so overwhelmed.” The non-profit introduced Mriga and Amrit to the Khatri family, which has been tie-dying for over 100 years. An evening visit evolved into a weeklong stay and cemented the first of their designer-artisan relationships. “We get a lot of love within India for creating accessibility to traditional textiles,” says Mriga.