The Story Behind Your Kantha: A Peek Into Our Partnerships

The Story Behind Your Kantha: A Peek Into Our Partnerships

Hi, beauties!! We get so many exciting questions all the time about the behind the scenes of Kantha Bae! Many of you want to know more about what processes your pieces go through before they find their forever homes, or what our partnership with those we link arms with look like! To respect the special relationships we have cultivated, we keep certain things in confidence for the safety and privacy of our partners. But with careful consideration and their permission, we have some things to share to give you a deeper look into some of our amazing partnerships! Story is at the center of everything we do, and we are so excited to allow you to delve a little deeper!

What is the process to bring these pieces to life?

In short here is a little run down of details of how many of your special kantha + silk pieces are created… also watch our video below for some behind the scenes of what these processes look like! 

This video, processes, and information are specific to our India partnership but similarly apply to our other partnerships, as well. Stay tuned for more details on those soon!

1: Sourcing up-cycled materials: In India, there is something similar to a bartering system. Women will go to the markets and trade some cotton and/or silk saris that they are ready to release in exchange for basic needs for their home such as pots and pans, etc.

This is how our partners in India are able to create their own partnerships within these markets and purchase the retired saris to breathe new life into! 

2: Preparing them to be sewn: From there, there are a group of ladies who will sew cotton saris with beautiful Kantha stitching to prepare them for their new life! During this process, pieces that are not up to quality will be put to the side... but don’t worry, nothing goes to waste here! They will take these scrap pieces and use them for needs within their households such as filling for pillows or blankets, etc…

 

3: Designing the pieces: Designing is something very important and personal which a lot of heart and soul is put into by both our stateside fam, feedback from our community (YOU) and our India team. 

 

This process requires the ideas to be created, laid out, and from there a pattern to be created. Once the pattern is created a few samples will be sent to us here in the U.S to look over! This process is meticulous but so fun! We get to spend numerous hours of video chatting and collaborating one-on-one with our partners for this process, marrying both our dreams of a design and their expertise in sewing! 

 

4: The design coming to life: After they are prepared by the lovely ladies mentioned before, and we have a finalized pattern, the material is taken to be cut out to the pattern specifications by talented women in the village and then taken to be sewn by a group atisan men in the village! 

 

Fun fact: most of the sewing machine action that happens is actually by the men in their culture! 

These men + women are expert pattern makers/sewers and are brilliant at bringing these gorgeous patterns to life on a larger scale so all of you are able to enjoy them! 

5: What about the scraps? As mentioned before, nothing goes to waste here and not only is it not going to waste, but it helps those in the village as well so win-win! 

Any scraps are given to those in the village to create whatever they please! One thing they are used for quite often is stuffing for pillows, bedding etc… another amazing way to bring new life to something old! 

6: Quality checking: Once sewn, these pieces go through a quality check by an amazing group of ladies! These ladies check for holes, stains and anything else that might hinder these pieces from living new lives and they repair them with tender love and care! 

Whether it be patch, or a stitch, these ladies are very intentional in ensuring these pieces are the best they can be to be adopted by you! So know that every time you see a patch or a place where stitching was used to repair, these are some of the faces who did so! 

7: Washing: After the items are complete a group of ladies carefully hand washes each piece and then hangs them to dry!!

8: Photographing: After production, these pieces move on to be photographed by an amazing group of men in the village! Every piece is individually photographed and prepared to receive a unique label corresponding with that photograph. 

9: Packaging: From there the pieces are labeled, packaged and scanned into our system before being packed away in boxes in order! 

10: Shipping: All boxes must measured, weighed and appropriate customs paperwork filled out before being taken to the nearest city for shipment at a local courier’s office! 

11: Arriving in the U.S: Once delivered to us, our team hand unpacks every piece and matches it to its corresponding photo before putting them in order on our shelves. Next step, they are packaged with care and on their way to your door!

What/how do our partners get paid?

So our partners are just that… partners. What does that mean? It means they own their own businesses and we partner with their businesses. In certain cases such as our partnership with Basha Boutique, the makers are employed by an organization such as Basha and then we partner with that organization to help support their mission. None of our partners are actual employees of Kantha Bae, but rather kindred spirit businesses that we are able to uplift, empower, and support through linking arms in a partnership. In this, we do still see them as true family since we have a very close relationship with them, so they are of course the most beautiful extension of our Kantha Bae stateside fam! 

The specific villagers in India that we link arms with for many of the fashion designs + more that you know and love own their own business. We have been so blessed to partner with them to bring these designs to life… enough so that we are the primary source of business for them thanks to you loving on our shop and on their creations! How this partnership works is they set a price for their creations and services that is fair for them and allows them to run a business with love + integrity and we pay them that price for their creations and services. Simple as that! 

We have experienced the safety of the work environments first hand in India, as well as with ALL of our partners. We ensure that a fair wage is paid across the board to all of our partners. All of our partnerships here at KB have been chosen with intention and are kindred spirits to us. People come first and love + kindness is everything.

In addition, we also gift a percentage of proceeds from our O.H Line at the end of each year to help aid them in anything else they might need. We also provide help when certain needs come up, such as when COVID hit India hard we were able to, with your help, provide funds for a COVID facility right within their own village to provide emergency care.

Over time, we have also been able to provide homes for some who were needing them and more! So in addition to our day-to-day partnership, we are always staying in tune to any additional needs our India family might have and help any way we can. 

What are your relationships like with your partners? 

Very close! We FaceTime and message them daily, as well as plan trips to go visit them physically whenever possible. They keep us updated on good news and bad news in their villages. We laugh together and cry together; we call each other best friends and do life together on the daily.

Anything other fun facts about your India partnership? 

For sure! Here’s some fun facts… 

1: In our partnerships, women have a big role in the business which is a rare thing to see in India and many other countries outside of the U.S! It’s so cool to see women being given an opportunity to create and lead all over the world! 

2: Our partners are who found us, which is pretty cool! We received an email one day from a passionate young woman in India sharing her heart, dreams and asking if we would be interested in linking arms with their business. After some intentional time spent learning about their business and heart, we said yes! Over time, with your support, we have been able to go from providing them with a small amount of business to now them becoming one of the largest exporters in India! The rest is history! 

3: In India, work is very sacred and the most important thing to them. It’s so beautiful and special because everything they bring into their work space is given thanks for, prayed over, and blessed. These artisans truly love and take such honor in their work! It is something they do together with their families and the people they work with become part of their family. They do everything united together while being joyful in using their talents to make beautiful creations! 

4: The work we provide allows many to work with their families instead of having to try and find transportation and accommodations 3-4 hours away in larger cities where work is more plentiful. Finding work or transportation to work is not always easy. So being able to work within their village, alongside their family and friends is something they hold very dear! 

5: They love American Chocolate! We learned that chocolate in India is very different than here in the States. When Krista went to visit them, that is what they asked her to bring. Everyone was so excited for it… the children in the village caught wind and rushed in to see if they could get some! Which of course Krista was happy to oblige! 

6: There are things we have been asked by our partners to hold in confidence such as details about their business, names, exact location etc… thanks for respecting those wishes along with us, and please lift our India team up with us in speaking love, light + continued safety over their community and their country as a whole! 

Additional Resources

- You can read even more about our partnership with India here: https://kanthabae.com/blogs/kanthabae/the-story-behind-your-kantha-northern-india

- You can read more about Krista’s trip to India here: https://kanthabae.com/blogs/kanthabae/asha

- You can read about our partnership with Bangladesh through Basha Boutique here: https://kanthabae.com/blogs/kanthabae/thestorybehindyourkantha

- You can read more about our purpose here: https://kanthabae.com/pages/our-promise

- Read more about our O.H Line partnerships here: https://kanthabae.com/blogs/kanthabae/the-open-hands-line-a-trade-storytelling

- Read more about our Dream Line partnerships here: https://kanthabae.com/blogs/kanthabae/the-making-of-the-kb-dream-tee

Thanks for taking the time to read and celebrate these beautiful souls with us! Stay tuned for more behind the scenes in India as well as with our other partners as we are able to share more of their stories along with their permission! Spoiler alert… an interview and peek behind the scenes with our California partners is coming soon! 💛