Here’s how two women are connecting rural Indian artisans to the global fashion industry

Parwa Devi in Garhwal was a farmer but didn’t make much money. She then became an artisan and began weaving handlooms. Today, she makes enough money to send her son to school and has become a hero of sorts in her village. This is all thanks to Karigar.

On a trip to Garhwal, Kanak Hirani Nautiyal (who moved from Bangalore to Amsterdam post marriage) and her friend Sindhu Holla discovered beautiful handloom scarves made by the local artisans. Together, they set up Karigar in Europe and, in course, changed the lives of many people in Garhwal. In an interview with dna, Kanak Hirani Nautiyal talks about their initiative and what they hope to achieve for the artisans in rural India.

How did you come up with the idea of Karigar?

In 2013, my friend Sindhu Holla and I started Pashm in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the aim to give rural Indian artisans a global platform. During a trip to Garhwal, I bought some handmade scarves at a local handloom fair. We thought, how would it be if we could connect these artisans to the global fashion world? We wanted to generate regular employment for rural artisans by showcasing their handmade scarves in Europe. But people found them too ethnic and if we wanted our vision to make an impact we had to change our approach. We had to give a contemporary translation to the traditional skills, craft and heritage of rural Indian artisans and create contemporary, well designed products. We partnered with Dutch textile designer Jolijn Fiddelaers and together we launched Karigar (a brand of home and fashion textile products) – Dutch-designed and fairly crafted in India using natural materials. We are now retailing Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, UK, Austria and Switzerland and we plan to grow the brand globally.  

Why did you decide to crowdfund?

There are multiple reasons, but the most basic is that we have a high quality, well-designed, handmade product that can directly and indirectly impact many lives. We want to make people in different parts of the world aware of our brand, our beautiful products and the capabilities of the people creating them. What better way to understand the market than by learning it from your customers, first hand?
Our Karigar Crowdfunding Campaign launches on September 25 and runs until October 31, 2015 on Indiegogo.com. People can pre-order one of the Karigar products, which will be delivered to them if the campaign succeeds.

How is Karigar helping the artisans of Garhwal?

We started our business by working with weaving clusters, weaving groups and independent artisans in Garhwal. Around 90% of our products are made in Garhwal, where we work with around 800 skilled rural artisans (silk/wool rearing, nettle/wool carding, spinning, dyeing, weaving, finishing). Most of the weavers and embroiders that we work with are women. Working on our designs gives them an opportunity to learn a new skill, become financially independent and send their children to school. Incidentally, my husband is from Garhwal, so the region has a special place in my heart. 

What do you hope Karigar will achieve over the next few years?

Our vision is to build a platform of expert, local artisans around the world, where their traditional skills are translated into ethical, sustainable, high fashion products for conscious consumers, or retailers who wish to work with the handloom and craft industry. Over time we aim to do design innovation  and reach new markets - 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. We also want to marry design and technology. For many artisans in remote villages, the full capability of technology remains limited. By linking technology with design and craft we connect people to our karigars (artisans) and our products with the click of a button. Already, each chief artisan that we work with has been given a smartphone, enabling them to record each stage of the process. This information is shared with consumers though the hang tag on each of our products. We call it the Talking Tag as it tells you how your product came alive. Lastly, artisan focus. This is the closest to our heart. We want to work with talented artisans across the globe and be able to translate their traditional craft into contemporary designs thereby giving an international voice to their talent and skill.