Mid-Project Presentation: The Alankrita Leadership Project

Over the past several weeks, our students Gurnoor Kaur and Ruthvik Konduri have been working with dedication, creativity, and a spirit of leadership to support the growth of Alankrita—a sustainable handmade jewelry brand founded by Saheli Kundu Chakraborty in 2016.

About Alankrita

Alankrita is more than just a jewelry brand. It is rooted in preserving traditional jewelry-making techniques from rural West Bengal while promoting sustainable practices. By working directly with local artisans, Alankrita not only continues India’s craftsmanship traditions but also empowers rural communities through dignified employment. The brand uses eco-conscious materials and minimizes waste, reflecting its deep commitment to sustainability.

Project Goals

For this leadership project, the team defined three main goals:

• Empower local artisans in West Bengal to thrive while promoting Alankrita’s brand.
• Create sustainable and ethical jewelry that combines traditional skills with modern aesthetics.
• Celebrate India’s cultural heritage by keeping old traditions alive in designs crafted for the modern woman.

Work Completed So Far

1. Jewelry Photography Enhancement: The students transformed raw product images into professional-quality photos using AI tools and editing techniques. This helps Alankrita present its products with greater visual appeal.
2. Logo and Watermark Redesign: The team redesigned Alankrita’s logo to better reflect the brand’s identity and values, using traditional themes and colors. A new watermark was also created to protect product images in a more aesthetic and consistent way.
3. Product Expansion – Gift Hampers: Beyond jewelry, the team explored product diversification. They proposed gift hampers featuring items such as soap holders, candles, combs, and other traditional craft-based products.
4. AI Jewelry Try-On: Taking inspiration from leading brands, the team designed an AI-powered virtual try-on feature for Alankrita’s website, allowing customers to experience how jewelry looks on them before purchase.
5. Website Redesign: The students carefully critiqued and refined Alankrita’s website. Improvements included Consistent fonts, colors, and layouts, Simplified navigation menus, Optimized mobile and desktop experiences, Fixing broken links and checkout processes and others
6. Storytelling & Blogs: The team began writing blogs to share Alankrita’s roots, values, and artisan stories. This not only promotes products but also builds emotional connections with customers.
7. Email Marketing – Newsletters: A new newsletter template was designed to keep customers updated on collections, sales, and special events.
8. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): To streamline production, the students created SOPs for different jewelry types (clay, mixed, fabric), as well as SOPs for social media content creation, including making reels and videos.

Future Plans

Primary Goals (August – October 2025)

• Grow Instagram and Facebook followers from 500 to 5,000.
• Increase monthly sales from ₹10,000 to ₹50,000.

Secondary Goals

• Hire 3–4 additional artisans to expand production.
• Collaborate with overseas companies to grow internationally.
• Expand into new product categories such as purses, notebooks, and water bottles.

Conclusion

The mid-project presentation showcased how student creativity and leadership can bring fresh perspectives to real-world enterprises. From branding and technology to storytelling and marketing, the project is helping Alankrita strengthen its identity while empowering rural artisans.