I Never Planned Green Tara Design

What happens when you don't plan

8/20/20261 min read

UNPLANNED · UNEXPECTED · UNSTOPPABLE

I never planned to start a fashion company.

When I left home at 60, fashion wasn't even on my radar. I was traveling. I was writing poetry. I was figuring out who I was becoming — one country at a time.

Unplanned.

India wasn't even my idea at first. I went reluctantly. It wasn't the destination I would have chosen. But something about it pulled at me in a way I couldn't explain.

Unexpected.

I remember standing in a market in Bagru, Rajasthan watching a man press a wooden block into fabric — deliberate, rhythmic, precise. Each stamp slightly different from the last. Each piece one of a kind.

And something clicked.

Not a business plan. Not a strategy. Just a feeling — I want to make something like this.

That feeling followed me north to Dharamshala, then Bir — through many conversations and many women tailors, each one part of the story.

As I reflect on that first trip to Bagru, home of Dabu print three years ago, I find myself remembering all the people who were part of this journey. The women tailors. The artisan families who let me watch and learn. The connections that slowly became a brand.

That's how Green Tara Design was born - by intuition and determination.

Unstoppable.

And that's probably the biggest lesson I've learned:

You don't always have to know where you're going. Sometimes you just have to follow what calls you.

Natural cotton. Hand block printed. For the woman who is becoming herself — and isn't stopping anytime soon.

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Kim Engstrom
Founder, Green Tara Design
Made by women. Worn by everyone.