Beginning of the beginning

With our luggage full of tees and shorts we were off. Peak of summer in Nepal, the hottest month and yet there was plenty of rain. Not the weather we hoped for or wanted, some sun and heat would have been nice after a long Scandinavian winter, but it was not exactly a vacation and an early monsoon was not going to keep us away from our mission.

We were absolutely hell bent in finding partners who would make apparels and accessories our way. The ones who would understand and embrace our values, meet the demands we set in terms of quality, craftsmanship, transparency and trust. Saying it was tough would be a huge understatement. I have lost count on the calls we made, places we went, people we met, and the rejections we had. We were unknowns, we neither had a name or a logo at that moment in time, so pretty much nothing except for our stubbornness and a strong belief in our idea.

We wanted to create a brand to share our passion, love and belief in handmade clothing made from high quality natural fibres with the world, so we kept going. And here we are after almost a year, Kalilo - the brand we envisioned is a reality.

Kalilo -  Nepali: कलिलो English: adj. tender, delicate

Coming up with the brand name was no easy task. A name that was short, meaningful, easy to remember, and connected with our vision. We pondered for months. Who would have thought that the name and even part of it (We had considered some names which had more than one word before we decided on Kalilo) had to be unique across the EU. As they say good things take time, patience and hard work. We needed a lot of that. The result of it all was Kalilo.

The logo

The logo was not easy either. It had to be simple and something that embodied and carried the brand - Kalilo. The sapling in the logo literally draws out the meaning of Kalilo. The tagline "More than you see" is there to show that a handmade product is more than a mere product, it's a story and a work of art. There is more to it than you see. A lot happens in the journey between raw hair fibres collected from a yak by a herder to an artisan weaving a beautiful handmade scarf. Knowing this journey and the in-betweens is very important to us at Kalilo.