It began with a set of pencil crayon boxes a couple of years ago. Karthik Vaidyanathan, the founder of Varnam Craft Collective, which has been working on reimagining the craft of Channapatna toys since 2011, thought of recreating these boxes, “mixing functionality with design”, in quirky animal shapes. He started with six animal-shaped boxes, which came with a little colouring book and sharpener. “They started getting very popular,” he says.
From these pencil boxes, he began moving on to other forms that could also be made on a lathe in the Channapatna toy clusters he works with to create his products. In January this year, he added six more animal characters to this collection and began building stories and even more products around them. The result of all this is the Snugglewalas, a new sub-brand of Varnam, comprising an eclectic range of products inspired by these 12 whimsical animals.
Garments inspired by Snappy, the crocodile
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Special Arrangement
Some of these animal characters include a spa-loving crocodile named Snappy, a genteel tiger called Pawston, the reticent parrot Nibbles, Oinkston, a pig who loves gardening, and diva-esque cow Miss Mooberry — all of whose personalities have been shaped by real-life people. “This is Sir Woolsworth, the proverbial black sheep who has been inspired by me,” he says, pointing to an image on his mood board. Similarly, the muse for Neckles, a tall, elegant giraffe, is Audrey Hepburn, so, “you’ll always find her with a string of pearls, a hat or scarf. I’ve always loved that grace and persona,” he says.
Snugglewalas has been on Karthik’s mind for over a decade. An “engineer-turned-entertainment guy” who now works in communications, he has always wanted his own range of Pixar or Disney-style characters. Also, as someone who does not have a traditional design background, he sees creation differently, going beyond mere aesthetics to incorporate storytelling into his products. Snugglewalas, he says, is an attempt to make people build an “emotional connection with an object through a story.”
Around eleven crafts have been used to create the Snugglewala collection
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Special Arrangement
After creating the first six toys, he says he then came up with a set of books and illustrations around these characters. “The illustrations became block prints, so it was a natural progression,” says Karthik, who, by January this year, decided to interpret and take the success story of Varnam across other crafts. So, he put out a note explaining the project and asking if any design interns were open to working with him on it. “We were overwhelmed with responses because I think everyone saw the potential of what we had to offer,” he recalls, adding that he chose six.
Karthik working with block printers
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Special Arrangement
By April, crafts-based design and business developer Devika Krishnan came on board. “She formalised what I had been working on a little bit more. We created a framework for the designers to work with, and then they went berserk.” You can see what he means, going by the product range of the Snugglewala’s collection, samples of which are currently spilling out of every nook and cranny of the Varnam office in Indiranagar, Bengaluru. From a rack of vibrant shirts, to block-printed mul saris embroidered cushion covers, pencil boxes, sharpeners, coasters, note-holders and piggy-banks, every piece is quaint, unique and beautifully-crafted, whimsical without being kitschy.
Every piece is quaint, unique and beautifully-crafted, whimsical without ever being kitschy.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
According to Karthik, around 11 crafts, including Lambadi embroidery from Sittilingi Valley, Tamil Nadu, handcrafted ceramic work from Kolar, Karnataka, block printing from Sanganer, Rajasthan and crewel embroidery from Kashmir, across 12 clusters, have been used to create the collection. He is also working on developing six more characters and hopes to grow as a team, find more funding to expand and further establish Varnam as a craft-centred brand from the South. “For me, the primary reason for all this is to show that young people can also like Indian crafts and find it cool enough,” he says. “You just can’t take craft forward if you don’t involve them.”
Snugglewalas will hold its first exhibition in Bengaluru between October 15 and 24th at Sabha Blr, followed by another in Hyderabad in November. Other cities are currently being planned as well. To know more about the brand, log into varnamstore.in
Published – October 10, 2025 04:22 pm IST
