How do I verify the Craftmark certification?

AIACA’s public member register at craftmark.org names Shwet and the craft process, Chikankari Embroidery. The certificate on this page carries the license number, 278P060, and its term. The register does not print the number.

Is every garment individually inspected under Craftmark?

No. Craftmark is an enterprise-process certification. AIACA audits how our Chikankari is made, from block printing through embroidery to washing, and the seal grades no single garment. Quality checking is the house’s own work in Lucknow, and a piece that fails our check is cancelled and refunded in full.

Where is the license named on my order?

The license is named on every product page. Give an email at checkout and the order confirmation we send carries it as well. A cash on delivery order placed without an email has no confirmation email to carry it, and the license stands regardless.

The House

Our Craftmark Certification

Craftmark is India’s certification for genuine handmade crafts, issued by the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association since 2006. Shwet Heritage holds license 278P060 for Chikankari Embroidery, valid 14 February 2025 to 13 February 2027. The mark certifies an audited hand process and fair, direct pay to the women who embroider, and we publish the certificate itself so any buyer can read it.

A buyer holding a finished kurta cannot see how the embroidery was made, and on the surface machine embroidery imitates handwork closely. Craftmark exists to settle that doubt: AIACA, the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association, licenses the mark producer by producer, only after an audit. Shwet Heritage holds license 278P060, granted for the craft process Chikankari Embroidery after that audit of how our work is made.

How the audit works

For Chikankari, AIACA audits the production process from block printing through embroidery to washing before licensing a producer to carry the mark. The audit verifies that motifs are embroidered by hand, that the stitch vocabulary is authentic to the craft, and that the women who embroider are paid fairly and directly. Craftmark’s standards also require good working conditions and prohibit child labour.

Fair payment at this house carries a number. A kurta that sells for thousands of rupees historically paid its embroiderer twenty to fifty. Our model pays ₹500 for the same work, publishes that number, and puts the artisan’s name on the piece she made. More than 1,000 artisan women across self-help groups in and around Lucknow embroider for the house.

Certification is renewed on inspection, not purchased. Our license carries the term 14 February 2025 to 13 February 2027, and renewal means passing that audit again.

What the seal does not claim

Craftmark certifies the enterprise and its process, not each garment one by one. AIACA audits how our Chikankari is made, so the seal grades no individual piece. A quality check of our own runs in Lucknow instead, and a piece that fails it after you pay is cancelled with the reason told and refunded in full, never substituted without asking.

Lucknow Chikan Craft was registered as a Geographical Indication in 2008, and the registration belongs to the craft and its region. We hold a Craftmark license. We hold no GI.

How to verify us

Every Shwet Heritage garment carries its Craftmark certification on its product page, and, where you leave an email at checkout, on the order confirmation we send you. To verify, AIACA lists Shwet on its public member register for the craft process Chikankari Embroidery. Our license number, 278P060, and its term are on the certificate we publish.

The document AIACA issued is shown on this page whole, legible down to the contact line in its footer, so the claim can be read at its source.

What the mark certifies

Embroidery by hand, motif by motif
An audited process, block printing through embroidery to washing
Fair and direct payment to the women who embroider
Good working conditions and no child labour
Renewal on inspection, not purchase

What it does not

Grade individual garments, judging the piece is the house’s own work
Show the license number on the public register, the certificate carries it
Make the house a GI holder, Lucknow Chikan Craft was registered in 2008

Craftmark certificate awarded to Shwet for the craft process Chikankari Embroidery, licence number 278P060, valid from 14 February 2025 to 13 February 2027, issued by the Craftmark Initiative of the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association. — Licence 278P060 · Chikankari Embroidery · valid 14 February 2025 to 13 February 2027, issued by the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association.

See our entry on the AIACA Craftmark register (opens craftmark.org in a new tab)

About the house The craft Meet the artisans The practices we publish

Questions, answered

How do I verify the Craftmark certification?: AIACA’s public member register at craftmark.org names Shwet and the craft process, Chikankari Embroidery. The certificate on this page carries the license number, 278P060, and its term. The register does not print the number.
Is every garment individually inspected under Craftmark?: No. Craftmark is an enterprise-process certification. AIACA audits how our Chikankari is made, from block printing through embroidery to washing, and the seal grades no single garment. Quality checking is the house’s own work in Lucknow, and a piece that fails our check is cancelled and refunded in full.
Where is the license named on my order?: The license is named on every product page. Give an email at checkout and the order confirmation we send carries it as well. A cash on delivery order placed without an email has no confirmation email to carry it, and the license stands regardless.