Rewards
Since their creation, our sari wrap skirts have always been crafted out of 100% upcycled materials. Our artisans hand-make each of our one-of-a-kind skirt - this provides not only sustainable jobs, but sustainable fashion for our planet.
Where does the fabric come from?
Our fabric is sourced in a few ways. The primary way we receive fabric is by our manufacturers going from door to door and offering kitchen utensils or appliances in exchange for unwanted saris. A sari is a Southeast Asian garment, made typically from silk, that are wrapped around a person's body.
Some of our fabric is collected from factory runoff that would otherwise go into our artisans' local landfills. Our focus on slow fashion ensures that we are saving as much fabric as possible and that less fabric is being thrown away in our artisan's communities.
These fabrics are predominantly made out of 80% silk and 20% polyester, and since these are well-loved and reclaimed, the material may have small blemishes- don't we all? When purchasing one of our skirts, you are not buying something off the rack that has never been touched. With your purchase, you are giving someone a better quality of life, as well as receiving a stunning recycled skirt!
Once the recycled fabric is gathered, it is sorted into 4 categories. After they are categorized, they are laundered and inspected once again. The clean saris are then given to our artisans, who use the fabric to create our wrap skirts, scarves, and yarn, depending on their category.
Every stitch of our skirts is carefully laid by our artisans, each using their skill and creativity to bring new life to the fabric that would have otherwise taken 40+ years to disintegrate in the landfill.
The artisans pick layers of sari fabric and sew them together- the shorter layer becoming the 'outside' and the longer layer becoming the 'inside' of the skirt. This makes our skirts reversible - so you're getting 2 skirts in one! The artist chooses which colors and patterns go together, giving each skirt the artist's individual style and touch.
Once the artisans sew the skirt panels together, they hem the edges. They then create the waistbands, which feature multiple ribbon holes so that the skirts can be tied in multiple different ways!
With the skirt finished, they are again washed and hung to dry. They are then inspected, tagged, folded, and packaged to be sent to us here in the USA.
Since Nicole started DGY back in 2008, over 2,000,000 pounds of waste materials have been reclaimed from landfills. On an individual level, when an artisan creates a skirt, this artisan has now saved anywhere from .5 pounds to 1 pound (depending on the size and length of the skirt) of fabric from their local landfills. We have over 600 artisans currently working with us to create skirts and yarn.
So, let's roughly estimate that there are 300 artisans that only make skirts and each of these artisans sew two skirts a day. If an artisan works from Monday to Friday, creating 10 skirts, this artisans would have saved roughly 5-10 pounds of sari fabric. Now if each of those 300 skirt artisans create 2 skirts a day, 5 days a week, they will have saved 1,500-3,000 pounds of waste materials sewing skirts in one week alone!
We also pride ourselves in having inclusive sizing! The nature of our skirts make them adjustable as well, so anyone between sizes can find a comfortable, stress-free fit.
Our Artisans & Their Skirts
Your order not only sustains our planet but helps sustain our artisans, their families, and their communities. By purchasing our wrap skirts, you're helping to sustain another human and their craftsmanship. Talk about being a global citizen!
Our skirt artisans either sew skirts together at one of our co-ops, or they can sew skirts from their own home. We love being able to provide out artisans the option of working from home, as many of our artisans are women and need to stay home to take care of their children or their sick, elderly, or disabled family members.
Many of our artisans experience systemic suppression from their government or society, due to their caste, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status. They are facing generational poverty, where education and outreach programs are purposely lacking in their communities due to their minority status. Your purchase and support helps our artisans around the world and provides them with safe, sustainable, and dignified employment.
So you can look good, feel good about the planet, and feel good about your skirt sourcing!
Thank you so much for your support, it really does mean the world to us and to our artisans! Because of you - not only are we able to keep working on our global mission, but hundreds of artisans around the world now have dignified, safe, and sustainable work that helps them thrive in a world that often forgets them!
If you have any other questions or concerns about your skirts, please get in touch with us at info@darngoodyarn.com