Producing in the pandemic

Prior to the Covid pandemic, as many of you would know, I would spend around 6 months every year in India, designing, sourcing, and partnering with socially responsible enterprises to design my collection. In doing so, being there in person, I was able to ensure that every angle of the label is equal parts style and heart, considered and measured, in the creation of each and every single piece of my amazing and magical line.
Now however, with global border restrictions in place, I was forced this year for the first time ever, to operate on a long-distance relationship with India - being unable to travel and be there in person to touch and feel the work in progress.
So how was it possible? All I can say is thank goodness for Whatsapp!! 
Maintaining my ties that I have been able to build over the years of this business, and the 8 1/2 months I spent stuck in India last year, I was lucky enough to be able to maintain my ties with sustainable producers and artisans I found and worked with and rely on their skills and hard work. And of course, being Indian helped me to work with them all remotely! Knowing all my artisans and workers personally, and having built positive and meaningful relationships based on respsect and trust, I was able to lean on this during this time and in turn ensure my workers remain employed throughout the pandemic, were paid fairly, and supported through the lockdowns and associated issues. 
You can read more about these issues that many garment workers struggled with in India last year, in my original blog article I wrote last year about this, production during the pandemic here.
And whilst travel might be off the cards for many of us for the forseeable future, when I design, even if it was remotely this year, I still endeavor to take you on a journey of discovery to India, bringing the best of my culture to you.
From the vivid colours and wild energy, to the clean lines and high end curations of NY fashion industry, and my travels around the world, I always felt that to wear my line was to experience the journey, and hopefully enjoy it with me.

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