Fashion Revolution week 2017 - Meet our Makers

Fashion revolution week is an incredible campaign which takes place at the same time the tragic Rana Plaza factory collapse occurred, where 1,138 people were killed and even more injured on the 24th April 2014. Fashion Revolution is a global movement calling for greater transparency, sustainability and ethics within the fashion industry. They are aiming to unite the fashion industry and ignite a revolution to radically change the way our clothes are sourced, produced and purchased, so that what the world wears has been made in a safe, clean and Fair way. We have been Fair Trade and proud since 1989 and we are delighted to be campaigning beside and helping the Fashion Revolution movement. We would like to introduce our talented Makers to you. Without our colleagues and friends in India, we wouldn’t be the ethical and sustainable brand we are today. Abdul Masterji Abdul Razzaq is the pattern cutter (Masterji) at one of our factories in Delhi who has the very technical and skilled job of making the paper patterns for our designs before the fabric can be cut and sewn to make the garments. He has 30 years of experience (25 at our factory) and we work closely with him and rely on his expertise to ensure our garments are a good fit. Based in Delhi, he has five children – three boys and two girls and loves spending time with all of his family on Sundays. Vijay Vijay has been working with us as a tailor in Jaipur for over five years and lives just 15 minutes away from the factory. Vijay has three children and loves to watch Hindi movies in his spare time, his favourite actor is Amitabh Bachchan. Mahesh Mahesh is 46 and a fantastic pattern cutter (Masterji) - he has been working with us in Jaipur for over seven years. He has five children between the ages of 14- 25 and adores taking his children out at the weekend. Supyar Supyar Devi is a tailor who has worked alongside us for over five years. She has one son and self-taught herself to sew at her home in Jaipur by taking in blouses and fixing garments. A good friend of hers suggested to go into the tailoring business. This is a huge achievement for Supyar, as it is seen as a highly skilled, predominantly male orientated role in this industry in India. Gabaddin Gabaddin Khan is 36 and has lived in Jaipur for 20 years. He is a great tailor, as well as being a very useful person to know – his friends say that he is the “go to” man if you need help with absolutely anything. Ramesh Masterji Ramesh Kumar is the pattern cutter (Masterji) at another of our factories. He has two young children Ashish and Nitu with his wife Lali. He lives and works in Delhi, and has worked with us for nearly three years. Kalim Kalim Ansari is 50 and is a relatively new member of the team, having joined in November and is already a key tailor for us in Delhi. He has two teenage children with his wife Samrun and is close with his mother Zulekha. Rajkishor Rajkishor Baitha is a new member of our tailoring team, sewing and constructing our sample garments as well as production pieces, he recently joined us this January. He lives with his wife, Lakshmi with their two children, Deepanshu and Munil, in Delhi. Sushma Sushma lives with her husband, Sanjay and four children aged between 11-15 in Delhi. She is a fabulous thread cutter, and ensures our samples and garments are well finished before they are sent to us in the UK. We hope that meeting some of our talented Makers has helped you to understand the importance of knowing where your clothes are sourced and how they are produced so that what the world wears is created in a safe and fair way. We visit our colleagues twice a year and this means the world to us when we get to work alongside them. We support local artisans to keep traditional textiles alive too. We vow to continue to raise awareness of the need for all of us to shop with a conscience.

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