CRAFTERS PAID TO THRIVE, NOT SURVIVE
Although we have a lot to say about our sewing standards and the way we make our underwear and apparel, the most important information sits in one simple fact: the people stitching our pieces together get paid more than required by state law, and more than stipulated by the regulations of Fair Trade.
The making of our underwear and apparel takes place in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in a small production house that operates under the auditing and certification of GOTS and FLO Fairtrade. Their model of work is far beyond anything we have found across India and beyond, and we knew from the first phone call that they were the people we wanted to partner with.
They offer interest free loans to their workers to pay for life's big expenses - like building a home, hosting a marriage, educating their children and arranging medical treatment for their family - and also give their team access to personal safety equipment, medical needs via Employees State Insurance, retirement & pension funds via an Employees Pension Fund and all personal rights provided by the Constitution of India.
Most importantly, they provide their workers with a living wage that exceeds what the law requires. This was our mission from the very beginning, as our extensive time in India has shown us that meeting requirements set out by state laws is simply not enough.
The making of our underwear and apparel takes place in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in a small production house that operates under the auditing and certification of GOTS and FLO Fairtrade. Their model of work is far beyond anything we have found across India and beyond, and we knew from the first phone call that they were the people we wanted to partner with.
They offer interest free loans to their workers to pay for life's big expenses - like building a home, hosting a marriage, educating their children and arranging medical treatment for their family - and also give their team access to personal safety equipment, medical needs via Employees State Insurance, retirement & pension funds via an Employees Pension Fund and all personal rights provided by the Constitution of India.
Most importantly, they provide their workers with a living wage that exceeds what the law requires. This was our mission from the very beginning, as our extensive time in India has shown us that meeting requirements set out by state laws is simply not enough.
HOW WE GOT HERE
When we started Monsoon Blooms in early 2017, we were operating from a small space in the south of Kerala, surrounded by palm trees and a short walk from the Arabian Sea. The state of Kerala has the highest average salaries and minimum wages of anywhere in India, but for us, they still weren't enough.
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In 2010, the Government of Kerala updated its minimum wages for the Garment Manufacturing industry stipulating the following basic piece work wages for underwear: "60 Rupees (about $AUD1.15) for 1 dozen braziers or 1 dozen panties".
These rates would see an underwear maker receiving about $AUD3.50 per day or $84 per month. Given it costs about $20 to fill a scooter with petrol and about $10 to feed a family of five a standard meal at a local restaurant, it’s not hard to imagine that those salaries were less than adequate. |
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Knowing that the highest minimum wages in India don’t accommodate the actual cost of living makes it even more frightful to imagine the circumstances in other states of India and in other underdeveloped countries. The places where minimum wages are even lower and fast fashion relentlessly preys.
We asked our tailors how much they wanted to be paid, and we paid them precisely that. Not negotiating one step of the way. This meant we were paying precisely 315% more than required by state law and still managing to on-sell our pieces with a profit margin we were happy with.
As much as we loved working with a small team in an idyllic location, it soon became clear we needed a more professional set up. The tailors we were working with were fortunate to be living in an area frequented by tourists, so finding work and maintaining a good income wasn't difficult for them. It felt like time for us to travel inland to the regions of South India forgotten by visitors. This part of the world is set up with numerous world-class garment factories, but they aren't readily used by big international fashion companies, as they tend to favour places with lower minimum wages like Bangladesh and the northern states of India.
It took us a lot of time to get things right. We can honestly say it took over a year for us to get our logistics system and production standards to a place we were happy with. We can now proudly sprout both high wages and high quality, with a very resounding sighing with relief.
We asked our tailors how much they wanted to be paid, and we paid them precisely that. Not negotiating one step of the way. This meant we were paying precisely 315% more than required by state law and still managing to on-sell our pieces with a profit margin we were happy with.
As much as we loved working with a small team in an idyllic location, it soon became clear we needed a more professional set up. The tailors we were working with were fortunate to be living in an area frequented by tourists, so finding work and maintaining a good income wasn't difficult for them. It felt like time for us to travel inland to the regions of South India forgotten by visitors. This part of the world is set up with numerous world-class garment factories, but they aren't readily used by big international fashion companies, as they tend to favour places with lower minimum wages like Bangladesh and the northern states of India.
It took us a lot of time to get things right. We can honestly say it took over a year for us to get our logistics system and production standards to a place we were happy with. We can now proudly sprout both high wages and high quality, with a very resounding sighing with relief.
When starting Monsoon Blooms we embarked on a fairly substantial learning quest to find out as much as we could about organic cotton farming, natural plant dyeing and ethical manufacturing - specifically in the context of India. If you're a little intrigued by the topic, you can view our resource list HERE. You can also view the complete farm to front door journey of Monsoon Blooms underwear and apparel HERE.