Wildcraft is more than an export firm — it is a tapestry of heritage, art, and untamed inspiration woven into silk. Founded by Rk. Yadavendrapal Singh and his sons, Chandrapal Singh and Bhumendrapal Singh, Wildcraft grew from deep familial roots in wildlife and nature appreciation. The firm made its mark by exporting elegant silk scarves adorned with wildlife motifs — a niche yet striking expression of art and conservation combined.

The creative spark behind Wildcraft can be traced to Jungle Ways, a Shikar company once run by their grandfather, Rajkumar Dharampal Singh, a keen naturalist and adventurer. His legacy of forest tales, wildlife encounters, and love for the outdoors created fertile ground for what would eventually become Wildcraft. Their father, Rk. Yadavendrapal Singh, was also an ardent wildlife enthusiast, further enriching the family’s deep connection with nature.

At the heart of Wildcraft’s signature product — the wildlife motif scarf — lies a celebration of fauna in motion. Each design captures the elegance of birds, the strength of leopards, or the delicate flutter of butterflies. With a commitment to quality, Wildcraft’s scarves are crafted from fine silk and finished with carefully chosen colour palettes and borders that enhance the vibrancy of the artwork.

The brand’s aesthetics were significantly shaped by their sister, Padmini Kumari, an accomplished wildlife artist based in Ahmedabad. Her work, widely admired for its sensitivity and ecological focus, inspired many of Wildcraft’s signature designs. Her passion for painting animals is not just artistic — it’s a statement about coexistence and preservation.

One of Wildcraft’s key international buyers, William Evans, played an instrumental role in bringing these scarves to discerning customers across borders. His retail shop provided a perfect platform to showcase the fusion of traditional Indian textile craftsmanship with wildlife-inspired modern design.

From majestic Canada geese gliding across cream silk, to the agile leopard prowling against rich steel or cinnamon backdrops, and an array of British ducks darting across navy and pale olive — each scarf is both a fashion accessory and a miniature canvas. The designs speak not just of beauty, but of biodiversity and the stories passed down through generations.

At the heart of Wildcraft’s exquisite silk scarves lies not only inspired wildlife artwork but also the time-honoured craft of textile printing from Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh — a town that has been a cradle of India’s traditional block and screen-printing techniques for centuries.

When Wildcraft began producing silk scarves, it turned to this legacy town for one reason: authenticity. The wildlife designs conceptualized by Padmini Kumari and curated by the Singh brothers were transformed into wearable works of art by Farrukhabad’s seasoned printers. Here, every scarf passed through the hands of artisans who could translate fine brush strokes and animal textures into silk with astonishing fidelity.

Whether it was the gliding motion of mallards, the poised tension of a stalking leopard, or the fluttering lightness of butterflies — Farrukhabad’s craftsmen brought these creatures to life on fabric using a blend of hand-screen printing and fine pigment techniques on high-grade mulberry silk. The rich saturation, sharp contours, and soft drape of the final product were the result of both technical skill and an intuitive understanding of fabric behaviour.

Working with silk, especially, required patience and precision. Silk’s delicacy and absorbent nature meant that each dye had to be calibrated perfectly — colours needed to remain vibrant without bleeding, and borders had to remain sharp and clean. The printing units in Farrukhabad, while modest, were equipped with generations of knowledge and a near-silent understanding between artisan and art.

For Wildcraft, partnering with Farrukhabad’s printers was more than a production decision — it was a philosophical alignment. It brought together heritage textile craftsmanship with a conservationist visual narrative, creating something deeply rooted in Indian artistry, yet globally appealing in design and purpose.

In a world increasingly driven by machine-made uniformity, Wildcraft’s silk scarves stood apart as pieces where human hands, natural inspiration, and traditional skill converged — each scarf bearing the whisper of a forest, the echo of a birdcall, and the quiet strength of a craftsman’s brush.

           

Wildcraft stands as a tribute — not just to family, not just to art — but to nature itself. In every fold of silk lies a legacy, a wilderness remembered, and a quiet hope that beauty can help preserve what we cherish.