Sustainable products must be sold. Otherwise they become waste and you know "Waste is design gone wrong". But what if you make fantastic woven fabrics for a living but you are not known? Then you need a framework that helps you make good quality products that sell to the right target audience. Karigar is such a framework.
Karigar (meaning ‘artisan’ in Hindi) is a brand of textile products for the global conscious consumer entirely handmade in India. Through a Home and Fashion range, they showcase the skills, craft and heritage of rural artisans, using contemporary design. Their products are being sold at a growing number of retailers. And at the moment they open up the consumer market through a crowdfunding campaign.
| But that is not just it.... Karigar gives other designers and brands the chance to work with this framework as well. Their vision is to build a platform of expert, local artisans around the world, whose traditional skills are translated into ethical, sustainable, high fashion products. The Karigar team knows the artisans and their culture, they can help you with communication on matching form, material, colour, handwork, ancient traditions and contemporary designs, help with production, coordination and supply of the products. |  |
"Most rural craftsmen have a small marketplace for their ethnic products. They sell locally and by making the same product over and over again they unknowingly limit themselves in what they can create. By exposing them to new designs and re-training them, getting them to push their own creative boundaries and in improving their quality standards, we give their skills a much-needed boost and open up a world of possibilities."
For many artisans in remote villages, the full capability of technology remains limited. This is not only the case for textiles but for many other sectors as well, for example coconut farmers. [1] By linking technology and the Internet to the artisans they get far more market opportunities with the click of a button. Already, the chief artisans from Karigar have been given smartphones. This allows them to stay in touch and updated with what's happening on the production site.
For many artisans in remote villages, the full capability of technology remains limited. This is not only the case for textiles but for many other sectors as well, for example coconut farmers. [1] By linking technology and the Internet to the artisans they get far more market opportunities with the click of a button. Already, the chief artisans from Karigar have been given smartphones. This allows them to stay in touch and updated with what's happening on the production site.
 | Big extra plus is that they use natural and sustainable materials like wild forest silk, nettle, wool and (organic) cotton. And they are fully transparent about their production process by using a so-called ‘Talking Tag’ – a QR-code that you can scan with your smartphone to see by who, where and how the design is made with which techniques and materials. If you would like to work with these artisans as well please contact Karigar. |
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/aug/15/coconut-water-popularity-supply-chain-farmers-kerela
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