Fashion Revolution with Daughters of the Ganges

Who made your jewellery? This Fashion Revolution week we want to introduce you to the wonderful artisans behind our newly launched jewellery range, produced by a wonderful organisation called Daughters of the Ganges.

Fashion Revolution is a movement that started in the wake of the Rana Plaza clothing factory disaster in 2013, where 1,134 people tragically lost their lives. The movement calls for more transparency in the fashion industry in the hope to avoid future unnecessary tragedies like this one – something which we can’t support enough.
We have always been proud to provide honest information about our talented workforce and after meeting with the Daughters of the Ganges founders and then subsequently visiting them at their headquarters in India, we were confident that they shared in our fair trade ethos.

Daughters of the Ganges is a socially conscious brand who support the development of artisan communities in India, by providing them with a stable income and a sustainable future. Brand founders Kalpana and Priyanka have strong connections to India and when they stumbled upon an opportunity make a difference to the vulnerable and marginalised communities that without them would struggle, they ran with the idea and Daughters of the Ganges was born.

'Every product that you purchase from Daughters of the Ganges is a testimony of the love and dedication exhibited by our artisans and tells a story of how lives can be changed’

We asked Daughters of the Ganges to introduce us to some of the skilled people that create their beautiful jewellery -

Shyam’s story

As a young adult, Shyam started his career sweeping the floors of one of our workshops and bringing tea for all the artisans. He watched the artisans and began to show an interest in their crafts. Soon after he took initiative and asked to be trained, he was taken under the wing of a master craftsmen and has never looked back. Today, Shyam is a master craftsmen himself, training new artisans and has now become the supervisor of his workshop. He has three children that he is proudly sending to school.

Talib’s story

At his first job, Talib started working at a small workshop that made fashion jewellery. With no previous experience, Talib proved his worth by being a keen learner and was soon making intricate patterns in no time. A job he enjoyed. When he found it hard to make ends meet with his small salary, he decided to quit and join his brother-in-law, a building contractor. Upon realising that contract work was not where his heart was, he made the bold decision to move back to his village and work in his father’s clothing store. Talib’s dream had always been to start his own jewellery-making unit, and after working for a few years, he borrowed a small sum from his father and started a workshop in Old Delhi. With customers that pay him fairly, he uses his previous experiences and keeps his artisans happy by paying them fair wages and creating a safe working environment for them. Talib now runs a successful business and supplies to WFTO certified firms, resulting in his products reaching different corners of the world.

'Because of Fairtrade, I now have a steady, dignified income, a respectable business, a happy family and two children that will be educated and have a bright future.'

Our Daughters of the Ganges collection was designed exclusively for Nomads, and features multi-faceted hammered metal, hand wrapped tassels and geometric shapes. The perfect finishing touch to an ethically produced outfit!