Do Fashion designers need an introduction? Not really, right? We are all familiar with their work and idolize fashion designers like Sabyasachi, Manish Malhotra, Masaba, etc. Bollywood has always been a key element that introduces fashion to the masses and Indians are no strangers to this ever-booming market. Fashion, Fashion, Fashion?this is all that most of us become crazy about these days, especially the youth. Isn?t it? Fashion is taking over the world and has become one of the topmost industry today. The youth of this generation is breaking all the bars to make a career in fashion. A career in fashion includes styling, blogging, modelling, photography, etc but designing has been an ever-green career in Fashion.
A career in fashion designing is for someone who loves to study fashion trends, sketch designs and develop something new and creative.
Well today we will tell you about a woman who changed the lives of 3,000 Artisans from remote Indian villages and is no less than any celebrity designer.
Sumita Ghose started her company over a decade ago with nothing but the trust of her ?investors?. Ten years ago, when Sumita Ghose decided to start her own company to help rural artisans, she required capital. Unfortunately, since Sumita had nothing to show by way of collateral, no bank was willing to give her a loan.
She became helpless, she couldn?t have made it possible without a loan but she did not give up. Instead of abandoning her goal, she came up with the idea of turning the local artisans into professional weavers and craftspeople and offered them equity. To become shareholders, 1000 artisans invested Rs.1000 each, providing her with a seed fund of a respectable Rs.10 lakhs. With her own savings and contributions from her family, friends and well-wishers, she began the company on a small scale.
She was determined to give the craft of local artisans a voice. She took the operation from a scale of local business to a global entity. Today, she is the founder and managing director of RangSutra, a community-owned business of 3,000 artisans from local villages and regions across India. The company has an annual turnover of Rs. 10 crores with 2,200 artisans as its shareholders, making RangSutra a huge fashion brand all over.
RangSutra is an artisan collective that has changed the lives of thousands of craftspeople across the country. Sumita and these craftspeople are inspiring the youth to take a step forward in making a career in handcrafting.
? Opportunity to rural artisans: Artisans across Rajasthan and other rural textile industries are hard-pressed to get a market for their craft and thus they have little or no negotiating power for acquiring raw materials. RangSutra provided the local artisans with demand thus adding to their purchasing power. This has enabled them to increase their margins as well.
? A platform for showcasing the local Indian art to the world: Local Indian craft has a great market in the world. The authentic craftsmen need a platform to achieve the scale, expertise, and finances for export. RangaSutra enables all this for the local artisans.
? Stake for employees in the company?s profit: Employees who work at the production level too have a stake in Rangasutra?s profits. Besides monthly wages, they earn a minimum of Rs.5000 through these. This is a huge amount for rural handicraft artists especially women.
? Zero wastage: Any fabric left out is not a waste. The team uses it for patchwork, quilts, handbags or scarves. The wastage is turned into revenue by these skilled team members of RangSutra.
? Empowerment of women: Rangasutra empowers women. They employ up to 70% women and ensure they have a stake in the company?s profit, medical and health benefits along with the social security funds. Women from rural India who have nothing but a husband?s name attached to their existence, value this opportunity a lot.
Since 2011, RangSutra has also started growing the skill sets of the artisans with workshops for the development, monitoring and quality control of new products. The workers are now being trained for handling groups of artisans, like tracking orders and ensuring timely delivery.
The team now adopts an organized and standardized way of manufacturing due to the increase in the volumes of demand. The cutting of kurtas and other apparel is now done in Bikaner. The employees are trained in management concepts like waste management, quality control, and supply chain logistics.
The facilities have helped create an eco-system for ancillary businesses like transport, packaging, services, etc.
RangSutra, which is known for combining traditional crafts like handloom, tie-dye, block-printing, hand embroidery, mirror work and applique on contemporary designs, supplies Indian handcrafted garments and home products to larger brands such as Fab India. In 2008, it broke a record with sales of Rs.1 crore and since then there has been no looking back.
In 2013, it hit another big milestone. It received it?s very first export project from Swedish home furnishings company IKEA. It was a game-changer, as it introduced international protocols of fair trade, quality and compliance into the organisation.
Recently, RangSutra also partnered with the Jammu and Kashmir government to form a producer company in Srinagar to provide artisans with a means of livelihood as part of a rehabilitation project for women affected by floods. Currently, it is working with 3,500 artisans, 70 percent of which are women, in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Manipur. After getting expertise in working with producers, now RangSutra wants to take a step forward by being able to sell to the consumers directly. Now, one can find it?s handcrafted products available online through artisanal e-commerce platform Jaypore. It also has a retail presence at the exhibition space at Dastkar Nature Bazaar and Shahpur Jat in South Delhi.
Sumita has worked so hard that today she no longer needs an introduction.
" />Do Fashion designers need an introduction? Not really, right? We are all familiar with their work and idolize fashion designers like Sabyasachi, Manish Malhotra, Masaba, etc. Bollywood has always been a key element that introduces fashion to the masses and Indians are no strangers to this ever-booming market. Fashion, Fashion, Fashion?this is all that most of us become crazy about these days, especially the youth. Isn?t it? Fashion is taking over the world and has become one of the topmost industry today. The youth of this generation is breaking all the bars to make a career in fashion. A career in fashion includes styling, blogging, modelling, photography, etc but designing has been an ever-green career in Fashion.
A career in fashion designing is for someone who loves to study fashion trends, sketch designs and develop something new and creative.
Well today we will tell you about a woman who changed the lives of 3,000 Artisans from remote Indian villages and is no less than any celebrity designer.
Sumita Ghose started her company over a decade ago with nothing but the trust of her ?investors?. Ten years ago, when Sumita Ghose decided to start her own company to help rural artisans, she required capital. Unfortunately, since Sumita had nothing to show by way of collateral, no bank was willing to give her a loan.
She became helpless, she couldn?t have made it possible without a loan but she did not give up. Instead of abandoning her goal, she came up with the idea of turning the local artisans into professional weavers and craftspeople and offered them equity. To become shareholders, 1000 artisans invested Rs.1000 each, providing her with a seed fund of a respectable Rs.10 lakhs. With her own savings and contributions from her family, friends and well-wishers, she began the company on a small scale.
She was determined to give the craft of local artisans a voice. She took the operation from a scale of local business to a global entity. Today, she is the founder and managing director of RangSutra, a community-owned business of 3,000 artisans from local villages and regions across India. The company has an annual turnover of Rs. 10 crores with 2,200 artisans as its shareholders, making RangSutra a huge fashion brand all over.
RangSutra is an artisan collective that has changed the lives of thousands of craftspeople across the country. Sumita and these craftspeople are inspiring the youth to take a step forward in making a career in handcrafting.
? Opportunity to rural artisans: Artisans across Rajasthan and other rural textile industries are hard-pressed to get a market for their craft and thus they have little or no negotiating power for acquiring raw materials. RangSutra provided the local artisans with demand thus adding to their purchasing power. This has enabled them to increase their margins as well.
? A platform for showcasing the local Indian art to the world: Local Indian craft has a great market in the world. The authentic craftsmen need a platform to achieve the scale, expertise, and finances for export. RangaSutra enables all this for the local artisans.
? Stake for employees in the company?s profit: Employees who work at the production level too have a stake in Rangasutra?s profits. Besides monthly wages, they earn a minimum of Rs.5000 through these. This is a huge amount for rural handicraft artists especially women.
? Zero wastage: Any fabric left out is not a waste. The team uses it for patchwork, quilts, handbags or scarves. The wastage is turned into revenue by these skilled team members of RangSutra.
? Empowerment of women: Rangasutra empowers women. They employ up to 70% women and ensure they have a stake in the company?s profit, medical and health benefits along with the social security funds. Women from rural India who have nothing but a husband?s name attached to their existence, value this opportunity a lot.
Since 2011, RangSutra has also started growing the skill sets of the artisans with workshops for the development, monitoring and quality control of new products. The workers are now being trained for handling groups of artisans, like tracking orders and ensuring timely delivery.
The team now adopts an organized and standardized way of manufacturing due to the increase in the volumes of demand. The cutting of kurtas and other apparel is now done in Bikaner. The employees are trained in management concepts like waste management, quality control, and supply chain logistics.
The facilities have helped create an eco-system for ancillary businesses like transport, packaging, services, etc.
RangSutra, which is known for combining traditional crafts like handloom, tie-dye, block-printing, hand embroidery, mirror work and applique on contemporary designs, supplies Indian handcrafted garments and home products to larger brands such as Fab India. In 2008, it broke a record with sales of Rs.1 crore and since then there has been no looking back.
In 2013, it hit another big milestone. It received it?s very first export project from Swedish home furnishings company IKEA. It was a game-changer, as it introduced international protocols of fair trade, quality and compliance into the organisation.
Recently, RangSutra also partnered with the Jammu and Kashmir government to form a producer company in Srinagar to provide artisans with a means of livelihood as part of a rehabilitation project for women affected by floods. Currently, it is working with 3,500 artisans, 70 percent of which are women, in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Manipur. After getting expertise in working with producers, now RangSutra wants to take a step forward by being able to sell to the consumers directly. Now, one can find it?s handcrafted products available online through artisanal e-commerce platform Jaypore. It also has a retail presence at the exhibition space at Dastkar Nature Bazaar and Shahpur Jat in South Delhi.
Sumita has worked so hard that today she no longer needs an introduction.
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