Who Made Your Clothes: Meet Mehera Shaw
Every year during Fashion Revolution Week, the fashion industry is asked to answer a simple question: who made your clothes?
It's a question we take seriously, not just this week, but in every decision we make about how and where our pieces are produced. This year's theme, Conscious Fashion is a Collective Mission, is a call to seek connection and go back to our roots. For us, that means bringing you closer to the people behind your Nancybird artisan- made pieces. And that story begins in Jaipur.
We have worked with Mehera Shaw since 2017. They are a Fair Trade certified studio based in Jaipur, India — long-time members of the World Fair Trade Organisation and holders of Craftmark certification, which recognises and protects the heritage of genuine Indian handicraft traditions.
Their workshop is two things at once: a block printing unit practising traditional Bagru-style techniques, and a small, skilled cut and sew studio. That combination is everything to us. It means that many of our artisan made capsule pieces, from the first print to the final stitch are made entirely within one community, by the same group of people. The printing and the making, together.
BLOCK PRINTING PROCESS
The block printing process is one of the most human things we have ever witnessed. A design begins on paper, then is hand-carved into Sheesham wood — one block per colour, a process that demands years of training to do well. Ghanshyam Ji, Mehera Shaw's master printer, oversees every element: the colour development, the Pantone matching, the preparation of AZO-free dyes, and the careful, rhythmic stamping across the cloth. Each colour is applied separately. Each repeat is aligned by hand and eye. There is no automated step in any of it.
“Our work is rooted in artisan block printing, one of India's heritage crafts. We love every part of making a printed piece of fabric — the drawing of designs by hand, the carving of blocks, the mixing of colours, the stamping. The teamwork. The history. We love doing something that connects us all on a human level.” Mehera Shaw
BEYOND PRINTING
Beyond the printing, Mehera Shaw's seamstresses and tailors bring each piece to life. Hand-dyed fabrics move through their workshop alongside block-printed ones. A single artisan capsule garment might carry the work of a designer, a block carver, a dye mixer, a printer, a cutter, a seamstress, each contributing something the next builds on. It is craft in the most complete sense of the word.
In April 2024, Emily and Sarah travelled to Jaipur to visit. We watched blocks being carved by hand. We sat with the women hand-stitching kantha quilts, row by careful row. We saw dyes being mixed and patterns stamped across lengths of cloth. It is one thing to know this work happens. It is another thing entirely to watch it, to understand, in a very physical way, how much of a person is in every piece.
Eight years of working together has only deepened our respect for what this team does and how they do it. And we are not done.
Working with Mehera Shaw we are so excited about what is coming next. Our new home collection arriving soon and looking ahead styles in our SS26/27 collections will feature — block printing and hand dyeing, made by the same artisan hands, brought to life alongside the work of our artist collaborators. It is some of the most beautiful work we have made together, and it is very nearly ready to share.
Thanks for taking the time to discover who made your clothes.
Read more about Mehera Shaw in the Artisan section of our FY25 Impact Report
