Preserving Artisan Skills in India

At a time when many of us are asking “who made my clothes?” and becoming acutely aware of the disastrous effects of not knowing the answer, how can we support sustainable fashion beyond purchasing from cleaner brands? Putting our travel dollars behind Saheli Women’s travel offering is one solution.

This social enterprise in rural India produces ethically made, sustainably-minded garments for international fashion brands, and opens its doors to conscious travellers for five unforgettable days of living with and learning from their team of 100 female artisans.

Arriving at Saheli Women’s pink-walled workshop in the outskirts of Jodhphur, Rajasthan’s indigo-washed blue city, you’ll be given an introduction to traditional Indian handcraft techniques including embroidery, stitching, block print and natural dyeing. Preserving these techniques is vitally important, connecting women to their culture and keeping important artistic traditional alive, while providing financial empowerment.

Saheli Women was founded by a dynamic Indian woman named Madhu Vaishnav, who is passionate about giving the artisans she employs the respect they deserve, and a voice that is heard. Most of the women she employs, she says, never went to school, were married when they were in their early teenage years, and have between three and six children to support. For many, working here was a battle they had to fight with their husbands, who didn’t understand why they wanted to change their work or to work outside the home. The income these women are now bringing into the community helped the men accept this change.

In a world where we’re acutely aware of fashion’s carbon footprint, environmental offences and atrocious human rights violations, it feels important to spend time with garment workers through organisations like Saheli Women. To witness workers spending an entire day stitching a single garment, and to understand what this work means for them, their families and their entire village, is a truly transformative experience.

Saheli’s second workshop sits in the small village of Bhikamkor on the edge of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, on a dirt road smattered with long-horned cows and scrappy chickens, and surrounded by simple houses and majestic ruins. This centre was once Vaishnav’s husband’s grandmother’s home, and ever since she first visited she has dreamt of bringing cotton handlooms back to the village.

Handloom is a key part of the Indian cultural identity that has become rare because of fast fashion. Through their work with international fashion brands, however, Saheli Women have been able to purchase their first loom, and are now bringing this traditional technique back to life.

The true magic of a week spent with the artisans of Saheli Women, however, is being immersed in their everyday life. One evening during my time there, Vaishnav took me for dinner at one of the artisan’s homes, where we sat on the earthen floor eating some of the best food I’ve had in India with our hands.

Afterwards, we carried two traditional Indian charpoy woven beds up to the rooftop of the centre, where we were joined by six of the artisans and four of their daughters. We all squeezed onto the beds together to look at the stars, the women gossiping in the local Marwari language, the girls laughing and asking me questions until I fell asleep in my clothes.

These are the kinds of travel experiences that stay with us for life, and that will help us work towards the more regenerative future we all dream of: one rich in culture, tradition and equity for all.

For more details: Saheli Artisan Travel | Travel With A Purpose

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