You will just have to forgive me. The truth is, I’ve been busy.
My mission has always been to employ as many handloom weavers as possible and to raise awareness about the social and ecological benefits of handloom. Slowly but surely, it seems to be working.
In 2008, one the most respected clothing companies in the United States approached me to create a line of private label scarves for their label. This company is committed to human rights, supporting women’s empowerment, and clean, sustainable social practices, and handloom scarves seemed like the perfect fit for their label.
Thus, I had a decision to make: working for this label would mean the production of thousands of scarves, and therefore the employment of hundreds of workers…but it would also mean closing my shop in Brooklyn and taking a break from my clothing line. Thousands of units versus several dozen scarves a season? I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make a difference in so many people’s lives, and I closed up my shop.
What a wild ride it’s turned out to be! Since I last posted, I’ve been to India at least a twenty times, with the occasional stop in Hong Kong and Thailand. I’ve weathered typhoons, transit strikes, red tape spaghetti, and maneuvered my way past a few unscrupulous individuals…believe me, I’ve got enough stories for an entire book—and then some.
I’ve also learned many lessons (some of them tougher than others) about how business gets done in India—all these many months later, I now feel like a seasoned pro. I’m proud to say that I’ve overseen the production and shipment of more than 50,000 scarves in the past three years. Whew!
There have been a lot of personal changes during this time as well. In the summer of 2009, I fell in love…with a bright orange Vespa... In a weird way, the joy of riding my scooter helped me to fulfill a long-standing desire to move to California. Why? Well, in California, I can ride my fabulous scooter year ‘round! Now, I ride my Vespa to my office in a fun neighborhood called “Dogwatch,” and I’m slowly building a community here. I still travel to New York and India on a regular basis, so now it feels like I have three hometowns. Can you tell I feel lucky?
My wholesale fabric business is flourishing, as is the private label business that I began working with in 2008. And here’s an important bit of news: I’m launching my own line, Smita Paul Design! My new website, smitapauldesign.com, will go live in the next few weeks, so stay tuned to the blog for news and sneak peaks. I’ll be starting with scarves, but in March of 2012, women’s clothing will also become available. After three years of learning, I’m rediscovering my dream.And as for this blog, I promise to be back more often with stories from my journey, interviews with other social entrepreneurs, and interesting bits of news from the handloom front. You might see a write up or two about other designers who are part of the “wear handloom” revolution as well.
Thanks to those of you who’ve stuck with me these many years, and thanks to any new readers just making their way to this blog. Feel free to comment away! Find me on Facebook (Smita Paul Design/Indigo Handloom) and on Twitter at @smitapaul.
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