Brand
S U T R A M (THE COMMON THREAD)
The bed. Its coordinates mark the space between today and tomorrow. A place that punctuates the day, and welcomes you wherever you are at. A place to disarm and surrender. Through SUTRAM, we aim to celebrate life, by honouring the most human of needs – sleep.
SUTRAM is a textile house founded by Rukaiya Daud and Kate Fowler, with a focus on organic cotton bedwear and accents for the home. Their approach to design is grounded in the interplay between colours and the tensions that occur between them. Daud and Fowler believe bedwear needn’t remain static. Instead, colours can be used as interchangeably - operating as a medium that animates space but can also reflect or indeed even shift our inner states.
SUTRAM
The name SUTRAM is in reference to the Sanskrit and Tamil word, lightly translated to string or thread, plan or overarching formula. Sutras must be concise, meaningful and true.
It is a sentiment that resonates in both the depth of its meaning and in the more literal sense of the cotton offering. It is their belief that with intention, through respect for craft and community and our resources, this humble thread can be woven into something more.
FOREWORD
Friends since high school, we have always been bound by our mutual love for craft, colour, and people. Through our offering at SUTRAM; and via the bed, we aim to honour the human experience, and celebrate what binds us. Whether we are at flow, or friction, our beds meet us where we land. We may enter bed with all in order, or much too late, with other, (equally as important) things pulling at our attention.
We’re proud to work alongside both ethical and environmentally conscious suppliers in India — and while we’ve learned so much throughout our journey, we consider this work to be ongoing. We are honoured to be able to provide a bridge and deliver their offerings to you, and in our own very small way, contribute to the direct flow on effects this will have in communities in India.
Knowing firsthand the power of colour to lift a space or a mood we sought to create a palette that invites experimentation. Each colour has a story to tell and we can’t wait to see how you make them your own.
Thank you for joining us,
Kate and Rukaiya
THE COTTON
Our cotton is sourced, woven and crafted in India by responsible suppliers.
Our bedwear is made from 300 thread count, GOTS and Fairtrade certified organic cotton sourced from a collective of 15,000 small-scale farmers across the Maharashtra, Odessa and Andhra Pradesh regions.
Woven using a simple one-over one-under technique, our signature percale is tight yet breathable. Offering strength with lightness - the smooth, hotel-crisp result is both cool and gentle to the touch. The longer staple fibres of organic cotton make for an even softer and more durable product that resists pilling and fading and grows better with time.
Our 'accents' range is made using a soft yet nubby-textured, heavyweight 250gsm cotton canvas, coloured with non-toxic azo-free dyes.
Our bolsters are filled with a naturally renewable fibre found in the seed pods of the kapok tree. Compostable and biodegradable, it provides a vegan, cruelty-free alternative to down and a safe alternative to petroleum-based foam.
THE COLOURS
"All colours are friends of their neighbours, and lovers of their opposites"
- Mark Chagall
When collating the SUTRAM palette, we were driven by this idea - of how a colour might speak to the next, to balance or anchor one another through contrast or rapport.
Arriving at our spectrum of colours, we gravitated toward each in their own right but also for the lines that could be drawn between them.
Designed to be used interchangeably, we see our colours as 'unbundled' building blocks - with different scenes evolving over time as you layer and rearrange pieces, or gradually add to your collection.
The even finish of our percale fabric honours colour with real depth, overlaid with a matte-ness that gives bolder tones the scope to occupy space more gently.
Some colours may call you while others may not, which is the idea really. Our hope is to just provide the options, and some synergies - for each sleeper to make their own - be it all-white serenity or a riot of colour.
CORE VALUES
THE BED (A SPACE THAT CONNECTS)
To us, the bed represents our shared humanity — connecting us to our own spaces, our daily rhythms, and the universal need for sleep. It is a metaphor for the warmth of an embrace; a refuge and home; a source of daily retreat and renewal.
CRAFT (A MATERIAL LANGUAGE)
We value the art and skill of craft, and regard the tradition steeped process of creation to be as meaningful as the final output. Whether the vibrancy of pigment or the texture of woven fabrics, these tactile elements remind us of the importance of making by hand, owning things made by individuals, and seeking the deeper story behind everything.
LIFE (AUTHENTICITY IN THE IN-BETWEEN)
A bed is a place, a feeling, a container between today and tomorrow. It’s the setting for many of life’s most authentically felt moments, and—alone or together—where our truest selves can unfold. We find beauty in the layering of it all: the raw and the real, the funny and the heartfelt, the mundane and the momentous, the nuanced blends of that personify our experiences.
COLOUR (THE EXPRESSIVENESS OF PALETTE)
We see colour as a punctuating source of inspiration—a conduit for capturing our imaginations, lifting our mood, and communicating in new ways. Colour (and its combinations) create atmospheres to live inside, natural extensions of ourselves that heighten our surroundings, express our present moods, and communicate in ways words cannot.
