Diamond Motif Ikat Cotton and Silk Blend Scarf in Sapphire, "Diamond Mirage in Sapphire"

“Hello, my name is Sudha Rani, from Hyderabad in the southern part of India. I was born in Visakhapatnam and did my early schooling and college there. I did my schooling in Horticulture. In the latter part of my career I moved to Hyderabad. In the year 2005, I joined Oxfam where I took care of cotton textile supply chains. During this time, I interacted with several cotton farmers, which eventually got me more and more interested in the textile industry.

“After working in rural development for almost 20 years, in 2015, I started my own entrepreneurship where I work directly with the cotton farmers and the weavers in the district of Jangaon. Due to lack of proper infrastructure, after harvesting the cotton the cotton weavers would send the cotton to Maharastra to spin the yarns, while the weavers would buy those yarns to weave. So the cotton farmers sold for less, and the weavers bought for more. I wanted to bridge the gap, so I decided to help facilitate both parties. We purchased the cotton, processed it into yarns and the same yarns were given to the weavers, thereby cutting out the middlemen. The cotton farmers got more money for their cotton, and the weavers paid less for the yarn.

“Right now, we have a great support team--we do our designs with the help of our in-house designer. We work together and always share ideas and concepts before putting them into actual work. We also have people who take care of the production and quality of the products. We give our designs to the weavers, who work at their own convenience at their homes. At the moment we have about 100 weavers, all women who are associated with us. It’s such a great feeling to help these women earn their livelihood, and they in turn produce such amazing works of art. Each and every item is so beautiful and unique in its own way, it is so amazing.

“We also have a group of Banjara women who help in fine traditional embroidery works which are so unique in their design. I really hope and wish that one day we are able to spread to more and more villages and districts, and I hope our products will be loved and appreciated by everyone across the globe.”