On a recent trip to Jaipur, India, Emily and Sarah were warmly welcomed back to the Kala Swaraj Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting handloom artisans. Our longstanding collaboration with Kala Swaraj has been instrumental in creating a collection of beautifully handcrafted garments and supporting this wonderful community of weavers.

Hemendra from Kala Swaraj generously shares insights into how the foundation enriches the lives of artisans, ensures fair wages, and upholds the heritage of hand weaving and wonderfully details the weaving ecosystem and the role Kala Swaraj Foundation plays in preserving this important time-honoured craft.

Kala Swaraj Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation (NGO) initiated in 2016 to support handloom artisans, helping them sustain their livelihood through handloom weaving.

Handloom weaving, a significant part of global heritage, also plays a crucial role in providing employment to over three million traditional artisans in India. However, these artisans face challenges in selling their products as local markets are shrinking due to affordability issues among the local population. Additionally, they struggle to access urban markets due to educational barriers, making it difficult to tap into growing opportunities. As a result, about 20% of weavers are leaving the handloom industry in every 10 years, unable to cope with these challenges.

Kala Swaraj Foundation aims to address this gap by providing access to markets, raw materials, and financial liquidity, enabling artisans to continue relying on handloom weaving for their livelihood.

The handloom weavers, who live in remote rural villages across India, each practice a distinctive weaving style. Kala Swaraj identifies regions where weavers are struggling and establishes systems that ensure they receive regular work.

It would be easy for Kala Swaraj to pay weavers less than the standard rate, as many are not receiving regular work and might be willing to accept lower wages. However, the core philosophy of Kala Swaraj is to establish a system where weavers earn enough to cover their basic needs and receive wages higher than those offered by other local employment opportunities. This ensures that they take pride in their craft and are motivated to continue. Furthermore, by providing fair compensation, their children will be more likely to pursue handloom weaving as they grow older, helping to preserve this traditional art form for future generations.

Fair wages are not only helping artisans live dignified lives, where they can afford essentials like vegetables, groceries, and education without compromising their basic living standards, but are also addressing long-term challenges.

For instance, Dilip, who began working with Kala Swaraj in 2016 at the age of 40, was living in a rented house in the village. After working with Kala Swaraj for a few years, he was able to buy a house and arrange his daughter’s wedding while maintaining basic amenities. Another example is Sakoon Bai's son. She began weaving with Kala Swaraj in 2017, but her son was unemployed despite having children of his own. Over time, he realised that better employment opportunities were not available, and in 2023, he finally joined handloom weaving. Today, he has become one of the most dedicated weavers at Kala Swaraj.

Nancybird was one of the first brands to believe in our story from the very beginning, and we have grown as their order quantities have increased each year. Over time, a few more brands have joined us, providing the backbone for us to continue as an impactful organisation.

As an organization, scaling production by adding more artisans to our system is not a challenge; the real challenge lies in selling the products. This makes it crucial for us to rely on bulk orders from Nancybird and other brands.

We have adapted to the production cycles of the brands we work with, understanding when sampling orders will come and when bulk orders will follow, allowing us to plan our production calendar accordingly. We have a rough idea of the order quantities and know exactly how many months of work we will have and how many weavers will be engaged. This brings us great relief and allows us to keep exploring new markets and supporting more weavers in need, as we can depend on steady orders from Nancybird and other brands.

Handloom weaving is a process-driven craft where several artisans contribute to different stages. The process begins with the procurement of raw materials,
followed by the involvement of various specialists at each step:

1. Dyer: A team of 3 dyers can dye enough yarn to run 3 looms for a month.
2. Warp Winder: One winder can prepare enough yarn in a day to make a warp that lasts one weaver a month.
3. Warper: A single warper can prepare enough yarn to make warps for two weavers for a month, though it takes longer if more than one color is used in the warp.
4. Warp Tying: Typically, about 4,500 threads are tied to create a new warp, a task that takes an entire day to complete.
5. Weft Bobbin Filler: One artisan can fill enough bobbins to supply 3-4 weavers for an entire day of weaving.
6. Weaver: Depending on the complexity of the weave, a weaver can produce 2-4 meters of fabric in a day.
7. Quality Check: One person can inspect and perform quality control on 20-40 meters of fabric daily, including cutting extra threads left during weaving.
8. Washing & Ironing: Two people work together to wash and iron about 100-150 meters of fabric, usually from the previous day's production.

Nancybird has given us the courage to continue this impactful work. Sometimes, the quality of the weave may not meet expectations due to technical reasons, but Nancybird is never disheartened and always shares feedback, encouraging improvement. Moreover, orders from Nancybird always bring bigger smiles to our artisans' faces because Nancybird uses stronger yarn, which is easier to weave. Our artisans love receiving orders from them.

Occasionally, we get more complex weaves from Nancybird, which only a few skilled weavers can manage. This gives those weavers a chance to feel proud and accomplished within their community for completing such intricate work.

As an organisation with limited staff and funds, we feel that we are not just suppliers for Nancybird but part of a team. We have never had to spend time chasing orders or payments—everything runs smoothly. This allows us to focus on the core work of creating beautiful textiles that hold meaning both for the artisans and for Nancybird.