Artisans are the backbone of our culture and its preservation. According to official stats, there are 7 million artisans who depend on their craft for livelihood in India, where over half of them are women. Unofficially, the number is estimated to go as high as 200 million. The second biggest employer in the country after agriculture still faces a number of challenges. The glaring anonymity, lack of financial support and a forced migration due to an absence of lucrative opportunities are all plaguing this sector. But there are many women entrepreneurs who are working to support Indian artisans, promoting and building sustainable brands, and preserving our heritage.
It is clear we need to nurture the Indian artisan community ourselves as well as support those who do it already. If you’re ready to begin, here’s a list of women entrepreneurs who are empowering or working with the Indian artisan communities.
1. Gauri Malik – Sirohi
Gauri Malik founded her sustainable decor brand, Sirohi, in 2019. This brand gives employment to artisans from marginalized communities from 5 states of North India. They’ve helped over 2,500 artisans already, mostly women, and helped reduce the migration to another profession by 95%. She also founded the Skilled Samaritan Foundation (SSF) where they provide training to girls, women, and others from the underprivileged sector to help them get a steady income. It is then through Sirohi that these artisans get familiar with the market as well.
2. Divya Mallick – Typof
Divya Mallick and Trilochan Parida acknowledged the fact that the gap between the Indian artisan community and the online market needed to be bridged. While other online platforms asked for a fee to list the products on their website, Divya and Trilochan founded Typof in 2021 which didn’t. An alternative to popular marketplaces, they provide all the tools needed by anyone to operate an online store without the knowledge of coding. This woman-led platform allows the Indian artisans to choose a custom domain, have a direct payment gate, and also has the option to connect with the customers via video call.
3. Surbhi Agarwal – The Art Exotica
The Art Exotica was founded by Surbhi Agarwal because she wanted to help underprivileged women in India. This decor brand works with the rural communities in Rajasthan and helps their craft reach all over India and beyond to countries like Australia, France, Sweden and more. Once she saw how the artisans were being kept from their fair share of compensation, she also took it upon herself to educate them about financial literacy. She has helped the Indian artisan community showcase their traditional crafts, and even helped one exhibit his work in New Mexico’s Santa Fe Art Gallery.
4. Akanksha Kanwal Shukla – Beatitude
Akanska Kanwal saw how the Indian artisan community often weren’t paid properly because of the middle men of the trade. Hence, she co-founded the handloom saree brand Beatitude, with her husband, so the artisans could be paid directly. They started in 2016 with only ₹5000 and by 2023 their revenue was ₹30 crores. They are working with over 200 weavers, and more than 600 artisans in the country. Not only do they offer their luxury sarees within India, they also export them to the US, the UK, and Canada among others.
5. Nikita Gupta – Pine Cone
Nikita Gupta founded her decor brand, Pine Cone in 2020 when the pandemic made everyone realize the value of quality in everything. She designs the products and then collaborates with the artisans in different states like Jammu (where she’s from), Assam, Manipur, and parts of Himachal Pradesh. 90% of whom are women. Some of her artisans also get a steady salary instead of a wage. Nikita works with them to help hone their existing skills and turn their craft into proper decor products. The primary medium of selling is Instagram and her website but this woman-led brand also has stores in Hyderabad and Delhi.
6. Mahima Gujral – Sui
India and Singapore based conscious fashion label, Sui, was founded by Mahima Gujral. To empower the underprivileged sector, especially women, this woman entrepreneur often collaborates with NGOs to provide employment opportunities. Their ‘Wildflower and Weaves’ collection was made by the women from the NGO WomenWeave, and they’ve been working with them since 2018. Another NGO they support is Pins and Needles, where they help women who have just migrated to New Delhi. In 2019, they created some pieces of their ‘Granite’ line in a collaboration with the same. They have also collaborated with Bagru Textiles, a printers’ quarters in the villages of Rajasthan to develop new prints for their summer collection named Tropical Sunshine.
7. Aditi Chand – Tilfi Banaras
Tilfi Banaras was co-founded by Aditi Chand, Udit Khanna and Ujjwal Khanna in 2016 to preserve and promote the technique of weaving traditional Banarasi sarees. They started with 300 artisans but now they work with over 2000 of them. Tifli Banaras also help the Indian artisans by introducing them to newer techniques without asking them to forego the traditional weaving practices that have been passed down to them. They ensure their artisans get a fair pay for their work and also employ the women in the weaving families so that their scope of work increases.
Ensuring that the artisan community gets the due respect for putting so much of their time and effort into making each product is something all of us should be conscious about. Especially when we see women entrepreneurs like these who are consciously working with, supporting and uplifting the Indian artisans in some way or the other so that they can keep their traditions alive.
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