For over a century, my family has been exporting hand-knotted rugs from India

For over a century, my family has been exporting hand-knotted rugs from India.
S.N. Kapoor Exports began in 1916, and for most of that journey, almost 90% of what we produced was exported.

That’s been the story of the Indian rug industry too — we’re one of the largest makers of handmade carpets globally, yet most Indian homes have never experienced them.

The shift for us happened three years ago.

I was visiting a luxury home in Mumbai. Beautifully designed. Everything imported.
So I asked a simple question:
“Why not Indian rugs?”

The answer was honest:
“I didn’t know we made anything like this.”

That was the gap not in capability, not in craft but in awareness.

The Indian home decor market is growing fast. People are investing in quality, design, and longevity.

What was missing was access to true handmade luxury — pieces made slowly, ethically, and meant to last decades.

We already had:

1200 looms
3500 artisans
A legacy built since 1916

What we didn’t have was a brand designed for India.

That’s why we created Understorey.

The Real Challenge Wasn’t Production – it Was Perception

📌 Bringing hand-knotted luxury to India meant addressing a few things:

▶️ ⁠ ⁠Pricing psychology:
Most people compared a ₹5 lakh hand-knotted rug to a ₹50,000 machine-made import.

▶️⁠ ⁠Education:
Explaining knots, materials, timelines — the “why” behind the price.

▶️⁠ ⁠Storytelling:
Helping people see a rug not as décor, but as a piece of craft backed by months of work and generations of skill.

▶️ ⁠Direct-to-consumer:
Taking the maker out of the shadows and putting the process front and centre.

Indian buyers aren’t hesitant about luxury.
They’re hesitant about uncertainty.

📌 When we show:

How long a rug takes to weave
Who wove it
Where the yarn comes from
Why the finish matters
Trust builds, and the conversation changes.

People aren’t just buying a rug anymore.
They’re investing in something that will outlive them.

For decades, our best work travelled abroad.
Today, the opportunity and the responsibility is right here.

India no longer wants cheaper décor.
It wants craftsmanship, transparency, and purpose.

That’s why we brought luxury back home.

Because Indians should grow up walking on the very rugs their country is known for creating – not just exporting.