Swahlee Journal - Updates, Stories, and More
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Weaving Tradition, Stitching Culture: What is Eri Silk Fabric?
What comes to mind when you think of silk? Do you picture a satin-like sheen and a soft, ethereal feel? Maybe your mind springs immediately to de... -
What to know and what to do in Jaipur, India: your complete Jaipur travel guide (plus our 5 favorite locations)
We recently traveled to Jaipur on a sourcing trip to visit our block print artisans and fell in love with the city. Here we will share why Ja... -
What is block print fabric? Everything we learned from observing the process in Jaipur
Meet Ghanshyam Ji. He is the master printer at Mehera Shaw, the artisans behind the block printed fabric in our new Chrysanthemum Block Print Top... -
How to be More Sustainable in Daily Life: 5 Simple and Sustainable New Year's Resolutions
Whether you love setting new year’s resolutions or you quit years ago, being sustainable and striving to treat the planet well is incredibly imp... -
13 Sustainable Ways to Wrap a Gift: Your Guide to Sustainable Gift Wrapping Ideas
Whether it’s the lingering glitter that keeps appearing long after the holidays or the twinge of guilt you feel as you throw out all the scraps an... -
What is Slow Fashion? An Interview With Holi Boli’s Ana Wilkinson-Gee
What is Slow Fashion? An Interview With Holi Boli’s Ana Wilkinson-Gee At Swahlee, we love collaborating with other ethical businesses in India. I... -
Meet The Rest Collection: Sustainable and Ethical Women’s Cotton Loungewear (Plus New Product Launch!)
Loungewear. These days everyone has it, and those who don’t want it. But, from pants that are too tight in all the wrong places to shirts that lo... -
My journey into ethical fashion
I looked into my closet at the rack of hanging clothes, the baskets of folded clothes, and the overstuffed dresser. I felt ashamed. Up until that day I prided myself for that wardrobe, bursting at the seams. I marveled at how cheap I had purchased much of it. I looked from the ill-fitting shirts that I found on the deeply discounted clearance racks, to the dresses that I rarely wore because they didn’t really suit my personal style. I looked at the pants that I didn’t even like, but only bought because the price was just too good to pass up. I was a fast fashion addict and did not even know it… at least not until that day.
That day was the day I watched The True Cost documentary on Netflix.
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Collaboration & transparency: sharing about our supply chain
The fast fashion industry is notoriously opaque about its supply chains. Rather than hide our suppliers, we want to celebrate the good work they do. If this means we send more business their way, then all the better! Paying fair wages and engaging in good environmental practices is more expensive than most brands want to pay. With most fashion brands looking to produce their garments as cheaply as possible, customers who are a right fit for ethical, sustainable suppliers can be hard to come by – especially now during the global pandemic. We believe that by collaborating and sharing, we can better promote ethical, sustainable fashion. Our goal is to see transformation of this entire industry. -
Upcycled
Knowing the fashion industry is a major contributor to pollution and environmental waste, I’ve begun to ask the question, what is our role as an apparel company when it comes to environmental stewardship? One thing we can do is help to minimize fashion waste. For our Fall | Winter Collection, we decided to source material from the surplus, or deadstock, markets. By “upcycling” these fabrics we are making use of textiles that have already been produced anyway and might otherwise go to waste.
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Meet our production + training manager
Meet Ritu Moni, our training and production manager at Swahlee. Ritu Moni has been a part of Swahlee since the beginning. She’s been involved in the training of everyone on our team. Maybe because she is a mother, Ritu Moni is one of the best time managers and multi-taskers we know. All our dresses pass through her hands for multiple checks and final inspection. Soft spoken and always calm, but with a great laugh and sense of humor, Ritu Moni brings so much heart to our team. In today’s post, get to know Ritu Moni in her own words.
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Earth Day is every day
We can all do better. As garment producers, and consumers ourselves, we want to do our part to minimize the damage we cause to our environment. While our north star is creating jobs where women who lack other opportunities can thrive, we believe environmental stewardship is also part of our civic and corporate responsibility. We know we have a long way to go, but here are some initial steps we have taken to minimize our environmental impact.
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