Team India
After developing partnerships with artisans in the Uttar Pradesh region, we began designing jewelry that combines local artisan traditions with modern jewelry trends. We are proud to partner with the resilient and talented women of these three cooperatives and offer you the bold and meaningful collection that you see today.
This cooperative sets the standard for what fair trade should look like. They partner with artisans from all over the region, making every component of jewelry by hand, primarily from recycled materials. They provide health insurance and educational scholarships for the artisans, directly investing in women's rights and social mobility They ensure women artisans are able to get bank accounts, and they provide financial literacy trainings. They also work hard to help women break into the job market, providing community trainings on business and vocational skills to women of different experience levels.
Fun fact: this cooperative also prints and prepares all of our Fair Anita tags (on recycled cardstock, of course!).
This group is unmatched when it comes to using recycled materials! Many of our upcycled bone, horn, and brass jewelry pieces are made by the talented artisans of this cooperative. They also create the little organic cotton muslin bags that are used for Fair Anita jewelry packaging. The diversity of artisans and skillsets in this cooperative are truly exceptional! They also provide health insurance and educational scholarships to the artisans in the cooperative.
Our best-selling (super cozy) organic cotton tees are made by this cooperative of women in Kolkata, India. Their consistency and quality is truly remarkable, especially given when the cooperative started, many of the women didn't even know how to use a pair of scissors! Besides fair wages and a great working environment, this cooperative provides literacy classes, child care, budgeting, and debt management services.