Priyanka Pradhan is the founder of Priya Wear, a lifestyle brand launched in 2019, that designs colorful 100% cotton summer dresses and pajamas in Switzerland and manufactures them fairly in India. It started as a project to connect her worlds: her Indian heritage with her life in Europe.

Priyanka is passionate about ensuring that the artisans involved in creating her collections live a dignified life, so she partners with manufacturers who ensure ethical labor practices. Priya Wear is now a family business, run from her family home in Lugano, Switzerland.

The Ancient Art of Jaipur Block Printing

At the heart of the brand is the traditional very time-intensive hand block-printing craft native to Jaipur - India. Wooden blocks are used to print fascinating, innovative as well as intricate and colorful prints on high-quality pure cotton. Block prints are done by eye and telltale signs of the human hand. Imperfections are part of the ineffable humanity and beauty of the craft.

These indigenous artisans were taught this trade by their parents, who were, in turn, taught by theirs — each generation working almost exactly as the one before, going back at least 300 years. Between outside influences and the diversity of the subcontinent’s own indigenous communities and tribes, India has yielded one of the most magnificent pattern vocabularies ever.

shop now