Khadi, in short, is suffering miserably from a rather outdated reputation as a low quality fabric, and the old fashioned image associated with these fabrics by its recent history and ever changing fashion trends. The industry is in decline, stocks remain unsold and many a rural community that historically lives from the trade subsists in the harshest poverty imaginable. Most of those affected deepest are women working from home.
Only recently, and thanks to new high quality Khadi clothes coming onto the market and fashion designers in India as well as abroad taking a liking to the original beauty of the traditional Khadi fabric, the tide seems to be changing its course. Notably, the rising demand for sustainable fabrics as triggered an increased interest in Khadi. The cloth, in fact, is zero-carbon due to its traditional manufacturing process!
One social business in the midst of this trend is MoralFibre, based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The company collaborated with Khadi cooperatives, and through them with some 5000 Khadi making individuals. This is an interview with Ms. Shailini Sheth-Amin, Founder and CEO. She talks about her vision to revive the Khadi industry and its importance for the livelihoods of India’s rural population.
Shirahime: Shailini, you’re an architect by training. What was the trigger to get involved in the Khadi industry, and what is your vision?
Shailini Sheth-Amin: The seeds of this adventure were planted in 2006. After living in England for over fifteen years, I moved back home to Ahmedabad, India. As an architect, energy efficiency and sustainable design has been is my specialization and area of keen interest almost all throughout my working life. On top of that, India has many problems that burn me and I have an intense need to work to become a part of a solution.
I took the opportunity of some free time to take a fresh look at few of the organisations I was involved with in the past. The ‘Khadi’ Shops set up by my late aunt, my Guru and mentor Indumati Chimanlal was of particular interest. The first shop was started by her (through the formation of a trust) in 1930s.
During the Indian Independence movement ‘Khadi’ had a glorious history. I found that today, the majority of ‘Khadi’ Board-supported shops like ours, controlling most of the production and sales in the country, have fallen into a rut and they have lost touch with today’s young buyers. This de-values the beautiful ‘Khadi’ fabric as well as its ethos and it drives its reputation lower and lower in the market. Thousands of ‘Khadi’ spinners and weavers have lost work in the recent years and more are losing every year. Most of them are women living in remote villages in under-developed regions and surviving under the poverty line. There is very little hope of them finding other work.
With this backdrop, and with the help of friends, I set up this initiative in 2007. Our goal is to offer a crisp, fresh and richly textured Khadi fabric range – basically, being the living proof that Khadi in fact is a very beautiful, attractive fabric.
Shirahime: How to you collaborate with the Khadi makers?
We are setting up new supply cycles with artisan groups who do not have the knowledge, understanding and skills to work with the current international textile markets. Most of them do not speak English or use computers and emails. Sometimes the only way to communicate with them is by post. Training our co-operatives by working with them, giving them work orders and help them succeed in present markets is a very important part of our ongoing work.
We try and explain this to our potential customers at the outset. By now, most of the customers and potential customers I meet, already work, or want to work, in a sustainable and ethical way, but very few know the issues and understand how this is different. I can understand that in spite of good intentions it is difficult to work like we do, unless one is very determined. The only thing I can say to them is that the artisans we work with are not a part of your normal supply cycle. We are including those groups who are left behind and as time goes by they are coming along!
Shirahime: Beyond its social and historic importance for India, as well as beauty and quality as a fabric, what is it about Khadi that appeals to you personally?
SSA: The inherent quality of the fabric is such that it absorbs the body’s moisture, making it a cool and comfortable to wear in summer and a layered style keeps the body warmth trapped within its texture in winter. It is allergy free and the feel and wearability of the cloth improves with every wash. The cloth is made of biodegradable cotton by using human energy alone. It does not use finite energy and resources so that it makes less negative impact on the environment.
Our fabrics, unlike industrially manufactured ones, involve lots of ‘people energy’ in its making. Today with growing concerns about Global Warming and Climate Change, this is a unique way of fabric crafting. It is a clean energy initiative aiming to have far reaching economic and social benefits for the people living under the poverty line. This is what fascinates me.
Shirahime: What needs to be done in the years ahead?
Improving the quality of production is the major change we want to see in this sector. We are constantly working to set up the required skills, training and tools to be made available to the artisans to create truly environmentally sustainable fabrics. In fact, I am a great believer in ‘Cradle to Cradle’ (C2C) approach: there is no such thing as waste in nature, only input to the next step of the process.
We need the development of a sustainable textile industry, which is the need of the time at local and global levels and promoting it worldwide. Doing the right thing for the earth’s ecology is not only our moral responsibility, it makes good business sense. While we develop new technologies that reduce our carbon output, we also look for programs that make a difference today. We are joining hands with a vast un-organized textile sector of India with organized sector companies like Reliance and Portico. It is like an untamed energy harnessed.
We are planning to include the artisans as share holders so that the benefits of the profits can be shared directly to them. They become prosperous and also, as share holders they will have a larger say in the company. There is a lot to do!
Shirahime: Taking on a more short-term perspective, what are you headed for next?
As a consequence, there is an immediate need to develop multiple skill sets in this chain. They include technical developments, product developments, business and production management, inventory management, merchandising, client management and managing finances. With the help of Ahmedabad Textile Research Industry Association (ATIRA) we are now in the process of setting up a new development programme to work with some of the Khadi units. This will hopefully be a path breaker and a demonstration of how a sustainability programme in the textile industry can be implemented successfully. This will help to make Khadi more attractive to buyers from the textile and fashion industry.
Shirahime: Shailini – thank you for your time.
