CRAFT STORY - softstory

In an endeavor to generate livelihoods for rural artisans and a sustainable investment in handwoven textile, we are closely working with more than eight not-for-profit organizations and (number) independent artisans.

Srijani Foundation has been striving to revive hand spinning on Kisan charkha (wooden charkha) for the ‘Weaving for a Living’ project. It has been promoting almost extinct weaves like Baavanbuti (52 motifs) of Bihar since 2015. Pandemic ceased its efforts to provide continuous support to its weavers, resulting in huge piles of unsold stock. SoftStory purchased all of their defective yardages to incorporate them into home line products, which helped the foundation in bouncing back.

A humble initiative we took in an extremely challenging time would not have upheld its impact had the craft communities not believed in us & responded positively.

In association with Creative Dignity, the Craft Council Andhra Pradesh has held online classes on product photography, catalog creation, and data storage for a higher outreach. But the initiative of CCAP to showcase the weaves were put on hold for six months due to the pandemic. SoftStory created a market opportunity for them by procuring their beautiful fabrics for its home line.

In Ajrakhpur and Bhujodi, several yardages of cotton, natural dye, Gaji silk and Mashru were rejected because of dye patches, improper block prints, memories on the base fabric, etc. SoftStory procured them largely or entirely from most of the weavers, thereby improving their economic state.

We have numerous such stories of unblocking the finances, procuring the dead inventory and offering fair prices to the craftsmen in return. Upcycling their stock helps us in doing our bit in a sustainable fashion while beautifying the perfection of imperfect material. The exciting blend of fabric, surfaces and construction techniques adds a unique and aesthetic character to each product.

Within a span of a few weeks, we’ve been able to associate with a large number of artisans. While this is a great beginning, we strive to keep reaching new benchmarks by facilitating more craftsmen. We hope that our socially and ecologically responsible initiative to upcycle the material sourced directly from the weavers is a model more and more businesses adopt.