On the Road in India — Celebrating Handmade Cloth
Maiwa’s clothing line exists to value and celebrate handmade cloth.
Cloth shaped by human hands, made on a human scale. Handwoven, naturally dyed, and block-printed textiles that carry the imprint of place and the intelligence of generations. Each piece begins long before it becomes a garment; it begins in soil, seed, skill, and time.
Every year, we place orders for over 20,000 metres of handwoven fabric and more than 5,000 metres of block-printed cloth, working with artisan communities across India—West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Kachchh Desert, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. These are not anonymous supply chains, but living relationships. Families, cooperatives, and villages where weaving is both livelihood and language.
Our hope is simple and ambitious: handwoven cloth can exist in everyday life. Not as something precious and distant, but as something worn, washed, lived in. Cloth that carries meaning and energy. Cloth that quietly supports the people and cultures that made it.
To do this work well, we return again and again. Twice a year, we travel to India to stay close—to listen, to learn, to be present. Every winter, we set out on a two-month journey, covering more than 6,000 kilometres by road, moving between dye houses, weaving villages, workshops, and homes. These long journeys allow us to see our orders on the loom, to understand challenges as they arise, and to remain in rhythm with the people we work alongside.
This season, our journey began in South India, visiting the Dastkar natural dye house and many weaving villages where our fabrics were actively being made. Threads stretched on looms, dye pots boiling, conversations unfolding over chai—this is where the work becomes real.
We document constantly, not only to share Maiwa’s story, but to honour and amplify theirs. Education, transparency, and storytelling are central to how we work. This is a glimpse into our current trip with our core team—Charllotte, Sophena, and Dani—alongside family: Kristyn, Boden, and Coco. With us as well are Sachi, leading documentary filming and editing, and Rachel, who works with Maiwa and is supporting the homeschooling of Boden and Coco. Work and life intertwine here, as they always have, woven together by deep relationships.
This is Maiwa on the road. Listening. Learning. Returning.
MAIWA CLOTHING
CLOTH THAT CARRIES THE SPIRIT OF HANDWORK
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