Heaven by Panchachuli UK, transforming and liberating, one loom at a time.

 

by Deborah Miarkowska

Panchachuli UK is proud to launch their ethical and exclusive range, Heaven, within the UK. A versatile range of high-quality, handspun and beautifully embroidered shawls and pareos to luxurious covers. Heaven is at the forefront of economic and social change for a remote Indian community.

The story behind Heaven and the Panchachuli Women Weavers is one of self-determination empowerment and enterprise from the Himalayan foothills of the Indo-Tibetan border all the way to the colder climes of the UK.

Panchachuli is in the region of Kumaon in the Indian Himalayas, one of the most beautiful and untouched areas of northern India.  In 1997, the Panchachuli Women’s Weavers Co-operative was created by the vision and creativity of two remarkable women, Dena Kaye and Mukti Datta. So inspired by the local craftsmanship of the dwindling master weavers, they set out to revive the dying art of hand looming by the creation of a women’s cooperative. By training a handful of local women in traditional skills of looming, weaving and knitting, the wheels were in motions for liberation through enterprise for this remote community nestling at the base of the Panchachuli mountain range.

Panchachuli a decade on

With the support from friend and business partner Dena Kaye, together they began their journey of social and economic emancipation with this community. In just over a decade, the Panchachuli Women Weavers grew from it’s ethical seed to now employ over 800 women from a total of 32 villages and has contributed significantly to the structural development of the Kumaon region. The cooperative is now the largest independent women’s cooperative in the state of Uttaranchal. The women are all shareholders in the cooperative and receive regular wages whilst further funding enables the network of economically self-sufficient women to grow throughout the region each year.

Celebrating a heavenly range

Heaven is the versatile range of imaginative and high-quality beautifully embroidered shawls, pareos and luxurious covers made by the Panchachuli Women Weavers. Collections such as Munsiyari, Baldoti, Kasardevi and Pateldevi are all Fair Trade and ethical in production and their design reflects the bold colourful attire of the traditional dress to the snow peaked mountains of the surrounding Himalayan range. Each raw material used is painstakingly gathered, from the arduous trek to Tibet to hand gather pashmina to the harvesting of oak silk and nettles by local villagers which is then dyed using indigenous flowers, leaves, bark and roots.

Award winnning craftmanship made with care and precision 

This high level of care and precision of craftsmanship resulted in Panchachuli UK, being awarded the UNESCO prestigious “Seal of Excellence for Handicrafts’ award in 2006. Heaven is not only shaping the economic and social structure of this entire region, but has resulted in women gaining greater political credence and land rights for the first time in history. The proceeds of Heaven are the sole source of income for the women who own and manage this inspiring enterprise. The long term continuation of these local artisan skills is benefitting the community as a whole with the ongoing establishment of further training and co-operatives aswell as hospitals.

The success, energy and self reliance of the cooperative has led the Panchachuli Women Weavers to be hailed as a blueprint for ethical business practise and socio-economic change after a 3 month study by the World Bank. Panchachuli are trailblazers in leading a business mode of having sustainability and ethical business practise as tier guiding principles.

For more information on the Panchachuli Women Weavers and to see the exquisite range or to order, view HERE.

We are delighted that a selection of the Panchachuli range will be coming to EcoChic Collection very soon.

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