Pabiben Rabari: Pabiben

Feature image credit: Pabiben.com, featuring Pabiben Rabari with women artisans

Pabiben was born in Kukadsar, a small village in Gujarat’s Kutch region, where she grew up surrounded by the rich embroidery traditions of the Rabari community. But with her widowed mother struggling to care for the family, Pabiben had to leave school and begin helping at home. The embroidery she learned as a young girl would later become the skill that transformed her life.

Although wedding embroidery was banned, women were still allowed to embroider professionally. Pabiben joined a women’s group in 1998, became a skilled artisan, and helped explore new ways to continue the craft without breaking community rules.

They began combining hand and machine techniques with ready-made ribbons and decorative elements to create Hari Jari embroidery.

Pabiben used the technique to create a colourful shopping bag. That design became the now-famous Pabi Bag, carrying the visual language of Rabari craft.

From Artisan to Brand Owner

Artisans create the product, but in some situations, middlemen control the market. Pabiben.com was built so that the artisan could also be visible as the designer, entrepreneur, and owner.

Pabiben.com grew into an artisan-led enterprise and the brand now describes its platform as an artisan-owned e-commerce marketplace for locally made products.

The platform has also expanded to showcase other craft entrepreneurs. Its current artisan sections include Rajiben, who works with upcycled plastic, Ajrakh artisans Jabbar and Mubin, and textile artisan Aashiyat Banu.

Today, Pabiben’s work supports a network of more than 300 women artisans, helping connect their skills with wider markets and keeping Rabari craft visible and economically relevant.

The cooperative supports women artisans and helps make their knowledge of Hari Jari a source of livelihood. The ribbon and trim technique is used to create bags and accessories for wider markets, giving women a way to preserve Rabari craft and earn from it.

This journey shows us that tradition can adapt, become useful in new ways, and still remain connected to the community from which it comes.

And perhaps that is the biggest win behind the Pabi Bag.