For the upcoming World Fair Trade Day, Kumbeshwar Technical School promoted a Free Eye and Womens Health Check up and Treatment Program last Saturday on their premises. The program was advertised within the local area, with 283 people participating on the day - including students, staff, produers and members of the local community in Kumbeshwar, Patan.
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So our next production is just getting started slowly but surely in Nepal!! The whole process takes time; once orders are finalised, the Banana Yarn has to be hand-dyed and dried, before distributing to the women handknitters at Kumbeshwar Technical School (KTS). Once the knit pieces are finished, then they are delivered to the leather factory (along with all other components and materials) to start the bag production for all the leather goods....
For this AURA QUE production, I will be documenting and describing the whole process as it happens whilst I am currently in Nepal....so for now, we are starting with the dyeing of the Banana Yarn:
The Banana Yarn is supplied in washed natural colour, having been boiled and hand spun from the raw material - the pruned outer layers of the Banana Tree after the fruit harvest in rural Nepal. This natural yarn is supplied in mass to KTS from their trusted supplier. I am hoping to visit the farmers and producers outside Kathmandu that make this yarn from the raw material, over the next few months, dependent on the next crop season - fingers crossed!
Each lot of natural banana yarn is firstly washed and prepped for dyeing and then dyed the following day in larger copper pots, all on site at KTS. As I wanted the banana yarn to be a tonal match to the buffalo leather that I am using for the bags, the women dyers firstly try a recipe of different azo-free dyes on a yarn sample. It is a trial and error process, though all previous dyed colours are catalogued with their dye colour 'recipes' which can also be helpful to find a suitable shade. When they are happy with the sample colour, a larger sample will be dyed with the same 'recipe'.
A challenge with the natural banana yarn is that sometimes different lots of the same yarn, when dyed with the same dye recipe, come out slightly different tones - which is frustrating when you are trying to match to a sample or leather colour! Therefore I have spent much time in the last two weeks going back and forth to the dye area to check on the process, waiting for the yarn to dry to check before the next lot is dyed (only 1 lot = 10 kg can be dyed in one pot in one day). There would be even more diversity in colour matching with natural dyes, so to maximise efficiency and minimise wastage, we have to stick to azo-free dyes for now....
For example - see the picture below showing three bundles of the Grey banana yarn for our A/W 2011 collection - if you look closely you can see there is a slight shade difference between each bundle, despite using the same yarn fibre, dye recipe and process! Its a mystery to me!! Luckily all are similar enough to use for our production in seperate pieces.
Once the yarn lot has been dyed, it is then dried for several days, outside but away from direct sunlight. Then the yarn is wound into balls ready for the hand-knitters to take home.
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Happy Nepali New Year!
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When I was last in Nepal, I was invited to lunch again by Kumar, one of the sample makers at the leather factory, at his family home on the weekend. I have been before and blogged about how welcoming his wife and two children are also.
This time, Kumar's son, Alish had drawn a picture for me - its really good and now on my wall in the UK! I had asked him about what he likes doing after school in his spare time and he told me how he liked to draw pictures and fly kites.
I was pleased to find out that he loves to draw, make things and be creative - especially as this is not really developed and nurtured in the Nepalese government school education system. The 11 year old showed me what he had made recently - a 'Nepali' house and an 'Indian' house, that he had made out of old boxes, cardboard and mobile phone charge cards. He said that he had made it when he was bored from what he could find. Its fantastic!
I found it refreshing to see Alish entertaining himself by making things from limited resources, including the kites that he flies by the river with his friends after school. I know its a bit of a cliched comparison but it seems a lot more fun for a kid than in the UK where some kids seem to sit indoors playing computer games all day or watching TV on their own, and always want the latest gadgets.
So in preparation for my upcoming trip to Nepal, I am stocking up on sketching and painting materials for him, and I am looking forward to having a go at flying that kite!!
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In celebration of Fair Trade Fortnight from now until 3rd March 2011, AURA QUE is offering 10% discount on ALL products sold through our online boutique.
Enter code “FTFORTNIGHT2011” at the online check-out to receive 10% discount on all AURA QUE products including the NEW S/S 2011 collection….. Hope you have chance to take a look!
This includes the NEW Spring/Summer 2011 Collection that is now available as well as all SALE stock. Also, the AURA QUE online boutique provides free UK delivery, and free international delivery for orders over £100.
The S/S 2011 Collection includes various styles of soft leather handbags with woven handles in Black, Grey and Brown, small leather goods and the popular Jogi casual cotton bag range in shades of Grey, Slate Blue, Raspberry and Black/White Geometric Print.
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Spring/Summer 2011 Collection Highlights:
Small Handbag - Shown in Grey Leather - RRP: £135
Square Handbag - Shown in Brown Leather - RRP: £149
Large Jogi Bag - Shown in Khaki Brown and Raspberry Pink Woven Cotton - RRP: £23
Please see link below for full product information and pictures: http://shop.auraque.com/products
Hope you have chance to take a look!
I will post up more stories and blog posts about our producers over the next fortnight, so please come back and have a read.
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Power cuts and load shedding in Nepal is now a normality. Kathmandu has a load shedding electricity schedule which means that power is only available at selected times every day. Currently this mean that most areas have maximum of 12 hrs electricity a day, in various time slots, and can be up to only 5 hours of power a day at some points in the year.
As reported on the BBC news channel:
"One of Nepal's top television networks has begun broadcasting its nightly news bulletin in semi-darkness to highlight the effects of massive power cuts.
Since the beginning of February, Kantipur Television has used only a kerosene (paraffin) lantern to light its 30-minute-long 7pm news bulletin.
The head of Kantipur News said that the aim was to put pressure on the government to tackle the problem...."
For the rest of the article, please see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12356312
For all businesses in Nepal this is a real challenge - larger businesses have to install generators to have power available throughout the working day for constant work flow with machinery and computers, which is a great added expense for their outgoings. Smaller businesses, such as the factories and production units that I work with, cannot afford these costs and have to organise their working day around the power cuts.
This can be really frustrating as without power, the computers and internet will be out of action, so communication with customers abroad can be infrequent and difficult to maintain (I find this really difficult when I am back in the UK and liasing with my producers by phone or email!). Also, within the factories, many electric machinery will be out of action at certain points in the day. Though my leather producer uses foot-powered sewing machines, which are not only better for the carbon footprint but avoids this power cut problem! This is a challenge that my producers have faced over the last few years and they work with it the best they can!
Evenings are usually without power, maybe 5 nights in the week, which many of my producers do not seem to mind by eating at candle light and going to bed early (the Nepalese are definately 'morning' people, bussling around their homes and streets from 5am). For me, it is a hard thing to get use to, the 'rationing' of electricity, as we are so used to it constantly in the UK.
Though Nepali people just get on with it, there is no question how it has affected trade and daily life in Nepal. It is estimated that only 40% of Nepal's population have access to any electricity, despite the massive possibilities for Hydro-Electicity in Nepal, with estimates that only 2% of the country's hydro power potential has been tapped into.
With water flowing down from the mountains, Nepal is abundant with possibilities for hydro-power which has been stunted by the change in governments and political situation over the last 15 years.
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Since returning to the UK before christmas, I have been busy with the wholesale business and meetings with buyers and customers, as it is now the season of sales and trade shows with London Fashion Week kicking off this weekend! So apologies for my lack of posts recently!
Just now I was looking through some of my pictures from the last trip to Nepal, and found some great ones I wanted to blog about.....Its also getting me excited about my next visit to Nepal in April....
But for now, here is some random blog entry news:
Here is a picture of an article I found in the Nepali newspaper Himalyan Times, bizarrely giving instructions on how to train your guinea pig.....very strange.....
"While a guinea pig may not be as eager to learn tricks as your average family dog, you may be surprised at how intelligent this animal can be when properly motivated..."
Also, today is 'Democracy Day' in Nepal, with formal ceremonies taking place within the capital Kathmandu, which seems to have been overshadowed by the stadium performance of Bryan Adams to a 35,000+ crowd of Nepalis, this evening - can't really get my head around that.....
There will be more relevant news and pics of the people I work with and maybe some new AURA QUE product shots - coming soon!!
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Check out our online boutique at http://shop.auraque.com for some handbag and accessories bargains!!
Only until 31st Jan 2011....have a look!
Enter the discount code SURYA20 at the online checkout for 20% off your order.
Free UK delivery and free international delivery for orders over £100.
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Wishing you all a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2011!!!
I have a feeling its going to be a great year for us all!!
At AURA QUE, we are offering 20% discount off ALL stock in our online boutique - please use discount code 'JAN2011' at the check out! Remember we give free UK delivery, as well as for international orders over £100.
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This year 2010 has been full of disastrous travel, whether it be volcanic ash clouds, indian visa immigration officials, sickness or national political travel strikes by Nepali maoists.....well the latest, is the snow at Heathrow, to finish off the year completely. After a two month trip to Nepal, I was stuck in Delhi for several days due to my Kingfisher plane being stuck in Brussels because they had 'run out of de-icer'. Classic!!
So after being told I could only fly back to the UK on Boxing Day and with my only 'Christmassy' encounter in the December run-up, being with a half sized felt Santa at a Christmas Bazaar in Kathmandu, I thought Christmas was going to be cancelled for me this year....
Luckily, I got bundled onto a flight with another airline on 22nd and made it home in time for the festivities, for a well needed catch up with my family and friends. Its great going to Nepal for Nov/Dec as you dont have any of the commercial Christmas stuff wearing you down, and you get back (luckily!) for the celebrations to spend time with everyone you love - Happy Christmas to all!!!
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