Our Story

Avante is a third generation handicraft store situated in Colaba, Mumbai.

The store was founded in 1950 by Kishinchand Malani, who came to Bombay as a refugee after partition. In its early years, Avante specialized in tailored suits, carpets, dhurries, shawls and bed linen.

In 1980, Kishinchand’s son Ramesh and his wife Kalpana, expanded the store’s offerings to new crafts being produced all over India. They visited different artisans all over India and began their collection of Indian handicrafts. They spent time in each state finding the best artists and understanding the process involved in each craft.

Over the years, Avante gained a reputation among locals and tourists as being a fair and fixed price store with a huge variety of Indian crafts.