Imagine A World...
Imagine a world without waste. Where, worldwide there is an ethical, fair trade and zero waste garment & textile industry.
I would love to make our fast fashion, throw-away culture a thing of the past. And instead of having a cupboard full of things you hardly ever wear, each item in your wardrobe would have a specific purpose.
Everything would be made ethically, from long-lasting, sustainable materials and will last for 20+ years.
That's My Aim
And quality, contemporary design is what I'm after. Not a style you'll wear for a week or two but one you'll have for years. Whether you wear it every day or from time to time, I want it to be of service to you for ages!
Workmanship is very important too. That's why I have all my designs hand made by these super talented women at my ethical, fair trade workshop in rural India.
People Matter
Right now, in autumn 2020, Pramilla, Masthanamma, Monica, Jyothi, Vijayakumari, Mala, Swathi, Sujatha and the whole workshop are finally back at work. They have had a terrible time since they've been in lock-down due to corona-virus. It's been a disaster for them. The Indian government didn't give them a weeks notice. Not even a couple of days. On March 24th, they had 4 hours notice to close the workshop and go home and stay home.
At the end of March, I made a plan to help them by raising funds to help pay their wages while they are unable to work.
Here's what we've done so far:
- We've set up a Just Giving fundraiser where you can donate to help our ladies.
- On May 11th, Shona had her head shaved LIVE on Facebook while also raising funds by auctioning samples and current designs. Having your head shaved is an Indian tradition: More details on the fundraiser...
- Between May and mid August, we donated 25% of every online sale to our Indian fundraiser.
- We set up a new bank account so that if you'd like to donate directly (ie, not via Just Giving) you can do that too. Please contact Shona for details. We've already had a donations of over£2500 this way!
- We have now sent over £6500 to India. Thank you to everyone who has helped!
August 2020, Update:
- Around 50% of the staff are back at work in our rural workshop. It's in a converted farm building, so it's very light and airy and the ladies are social distancing to keep them all safe.
- We have loacted several more empty buildings locally, so that extra (socially distanced) space can be made available to allow more of our ladies to come back to work.
- Production of our orders has started again and we're hoping to be able to receive our new designs in the autumn.
November 2020, Update:
- Hoorrah! The new designs are coming in very soon. We have some limited editions of our favourites and new Harris tweed designs and lots of lovely new leather colours too.
- Shona has been handmaking reusable fabric gift wrapping material which will be on sale soon. No more wasted wrapping paper!
- We're formulating a plan to ALWAYS give 10% of profits back to our workshop ladies in the form of sponsorship for education and other benefits. More details coming on this soon.
Thank you to everyone who has helped during this very difficult time.
Find out more about what we're up to here:
From happier times: