There are many things that can be hard about adulting. Sareeing need not be one of them.
That is why, we present to you, the INSTANT SAREE. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
That’s it. Even before you can say ‘Ma, help me with these saree pleats’ you’re done, and ready to slay.
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At Six Yards Plus, our mission is simple- MORE WOMEN. MORE SAREES. MORE OFTEN
Sarees have always been versatile, multi-purpose, truly up-cyclable and long lasting. Whether one is 18 or 80, the elegance of a saree remains unmatched for all shapes and sizes of women. It is a faithful companion, seeing a woman through all the important milestones of her life.
Now, more than ever, it’s easy to style a saree- you don’t need matching blouses, crop tops paired with sarees are all the rage, it doesn’t matter that your drape is not traditional, it’s very much open to interpretation. And now, more than ever, there is an increase in interest in traditional crafts and weaves.
And yet, in our conversations with women in their 20s and 30s independent and multi-tasking, it comes across that draping a saree is not something they consider doing because they perceive that they are too busy, that they are overwhelmed by the buying experience, that there’s too much paraphernalia around the saree or that it’s just not worth the hassle.
One of the biggest barriers is of course that many women feel that they do not know how to drape a saree, or do not feel secure enough in their draping to take the saree to work, or casual occasions. That’s where the Six Yards Plus INSTANT Saree comes in.
Wrap. Hook. Flip.
There are many things that can be hard about adulting. Sareeing need not be one of them.
That is why, we present to you, the INSTANT SAREE. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
That’s it. Even before you can say ‘Ma, help me with these saree pleats’ you’re done, and ready to slay.
It’s free size, accommodating waist sizes 23 to 39. The beauty of the saree comes from the fact that it doesn't limit you to a size. We tried really hard to accommodate a wide size range and are really happy with the results.
It comes with its own lining, so doesn’t require an underskirt.
Pair it with a T Shirt, a crop top, a bralette or even a tailored blouse- whatever your mood is, and you’re ready to go!
Six Yards Plus has always been about MORE women. MORE sarees. MORE often. And we have constantly innovated to create products and services that will help more and more women access the beauty and the power that the saree offers.
This is all we want to do- to make sarees fun and interesting to own and drape and to take the hassle out of putting together a saree look. To help you chart your own saree journey- discover what you like, to try out weaves and drapes and find a comfort zone and maybe even try to go beyond that so that they can truly experience the power and elegance of the saree over conversations, consultations and experience.
So go on, give the INSTANT Saree a try!
]]>We are 100% women owned and 100% women run at Six Yards Plus. I thought that was enough of a statement that we were driven by women, and that the workplace would automatically be woman centric.
But I have, however, over the past four years, discovered that it takes MUCH more than that.
It takes an acknowledgement that levels of family support and equal parenting are very different across households
So, as an organisation, we are happy to have children accompanying their mothers if required. Or to adapt if team members need days off for their own health conditions, caring for other family members or to manage events at home.
Cheerfully and without a grudge- that is what makes it enabling. Individual women should not have to deal with the consequences of the traditional roles that society sometimes boxes them in.
It takes recognition that team members sometimes deal with situations of extreme pressure- a little empathy goes a long way
So, we must be prepared to go out of our way- to support an education, to help out if there is an issue with the authorities, to instill confidence and to reassure them that you will do as much as you can, to support their ambition to work.
And that this is done with mutual respect- there is no upper hand in this relationship.
It takes pride in the achievements of your co-workers as mothers, as daughters, as students and as friends.
All of us grow when we share- I am personally incredibly proud of the brilliant things my team is taking on- health wise, family situation wise, life situation wise, and how they deal with it strongly, confidently and with awe inspiring determination.
Because the tribe doesn’t build itself- it is born out of a bond that comes from sharing things beyond work.
It takes prioritising the well being of your team.
We may not directly influence public spaces, pandemics or crime. But since these things disproportionately impact women, we ensure that our team is protected from the negative effects of these to the extent possible. Prioritising well being of team members over short term gains is definitely one of the things it takes, to build women centric work places.
And more than anything else, it takes a sense of humour and a sense of true belonging. Of wanting, every day, to come to a place that allows you to express yourself, to grow, to learn.
Here’s a big hi-five to teams who are doing all this and more!
]]>Six Yards Plus is born out of our love for all things saree. We are always thinking of ways in which to bring crafts and weaves together so that we create sarees that have a story to tell. And working with crafts that present narratives- like Kalamkari, Cheriyal, Patachitra. seemed quite natural to us.
Cheriyal is a GI tagged art form native to Telangana. It was originally used as scrolls for supporting oral storytelling traditions. Masks are also a large part of their repertoire, and although there is only a very small group of artisans that work on Cheriyal in its traditional form, product diversification and strong Government and non-Government support has played a role in the ability of the artisans to continue to remain relevant to changing times.
Personally, I love Cheriyal masks, and when I saw that the Cheriyal style of painting was being made into home décor items, my first thought was that- it would be wonderful on a saree.
Vivid colours that bring out the spirit of the rural Telangana landscape, motifs and themes deeply rooted in folk arts, and the fact that we could apply the art to a different kind of a product, to tell the stories that we wanted to share.. all these were the motivation and the inspiration for the Cheriyal Chronicles collection.
The collection was about bringing a folk narrative to sarees. We wanted to celebrate the joy, the innocence and the freedom one experiences while playing games. We wanted to depict traditional games that we used to play as children, which are finding less and less space in our fast paced urban life. We also wanted to be faithful to the art form, and to not tamper with the motifs or the colours in any way.
The paintings are beautiful, but for them to be a successful product that could sustainably be made, produced and sold in sufficient numbers, we had to find a way to make the value proposition right. We did not want to short change the artisans who worked on the saree. Neither did we want to create something that exoticised the art and made it out of reach for most. This balance was the toughest to find.
The first decision was the base fabric- we have been collaborating with the Aditya Birla Group to create beautiful sarees using Liva certified modal yarns and fabrics. Modal is essentially a cellulose based fabric obtained from trees. Liva certification is given to sarees where the yarn is produced in a sustainable manner with a positive environmental footprint. Modal yarn can be in the warp or in the weft, or in both, and it can be combined well with silk and cotton. For the Cheriyal Chronicles series, we decided to work with Modal Silk. Essentially, regular mulberry silk in the warp and modal yarn in the weft. The fabric itself is not handwoven, but the yarn is certified sustainable.
The end result is a beautiful, light, flowing fabric that drapes like a dream. Luxurious to touch and sustainably produced.
The next decision was on how we wanted to bring Cheriyal paintings onto the fabric. I had already been turned down by a well-known artist when I chanced to meet Mr. Venkataramana at an exhibition where the both of us had stalls. An award winning Cheriyal artist, luckily for us, he was open to the idea, and came in to discuss with us as to how we could faithfully translate the art form to the saree keeping both the craft, and the cost in mind. We had earlier done a series on off white silk cotton Maheshwari sarees. Although those did sell out, we got strong customer feedback that colours were preferred over plain whites and off whites.
The design team therefore made a decision to construct these sarees- all the pallus would be white, with bright Cheriyal motifs, and the sarees themselves would be offered in a range of colours including off-white.
And then the motifs themselves- we selected, in discussion with Ramana garu, the three motifs for the pallu.
Games I love to play, and those that remind me of a simpler time.
The motifs are as they are depicted in Cheriyal craft, and the colours, the features as well as the adornments are all credit to Ramana garu and his family that work together on the sarees.
The idea was to play up the construction rather than to play it down, and since the art is so rooted in Telangana, pearls were our go to embellishment. We brought in hand embroidered pearl lines and pearl tassels onto the saree, and added a beautiful Cheriyal inspired border that was embroidered by hand. The turmeric coloured 'gadapa' or threshold is an integral part of most Cheriyal paintings, and we wanted to pay an ode to that.
And that is how our design team led by Sridevi and myself conceptualised and put together the Cheriyal Chronicles collection for all of you.
Do take a look at the collection. It is truly wearable art, and most definitely once in a wardrobe!
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We are a company that operates at the cusp of culture, loom craft and livelihoods. Essentially, we want to increase the wardrobe share of sarees so that we can share the joy and power of sarees with the world, and so that we continue to nurture and support craft entrepreneurs and artisans who are keepers of our tangible and intangible heritage. These are nice sounding words, but what do they mean? They mean that we absorb inventory risks, that we invest in supply chains and in artisans extensively. Working together with them, often to develop and execute designs and of course hustling night and day to make sales possible so that the cycle continues.
While the pandemic taught us valuable lessons- about love, gratitude, minimalism, and self-reliance, we all know that it did not affect everyone equally. And as the economy and sales started declining, one of the worst affected sectors was retail, and particularly handlooms and handicraft. And as a company, we were right in the middle of that. But by the time the initial lockdowns were lifted, we had made a few decisions.
And by technology, we don’t mean that we developed some new platform or anything glamourous like that. We simply and quietly found the best way of working with our network of crafts persons and weavers to keep supporting them through this unprecedented time. And this has been made possible with what I like to think of as the ‘tech triumvirate’- Communications platforms like Whatsapp, Fintech Platforms like UPI and Logistics Platforms like Dunzo.
We were able to use technology and via video calls and image exchanges, designs were finalised. We then used technology to monitor and support. One of our key block printers had a family emergency and couldn’t meet the deadline. In normal times, our production team would have been on the ground with them. Given this was not possible, we developed a routine of checking in with them close to 5 times a day while our sarees were on the table, and supervised, virtually, the production work on our sarees.
But most importantly, I love how small craft entrepreneurs, weavers and artisans have been able to use technology to continue to do business- many of them not very conversant with English, but between voice messages, images and broken expressions in various languages, communication happened in a truly powerful and democratic manner. Insta pages, Whatsapp business catalogues, fin-tech payment solutions, technology driven logistics and E-commerce platforms have all played a role in getting people through these tough times.
As we end the year, it gives me great pride to see that we have provided work to over 100 weavers and artisans, launched our website, expanded to two further cities, now have a presence across Amazon, Myntra and Ajio, have released over a hundred new designs, have actually hired key members in our team and are on track to equal last year’s revenue despite the kind of year it was.
None of this was easy, and the entire team at Six Yards Plus worked overtime to deal with the challenges thrown our way- leaning on each other to make the best of circumstances with a spirit of optimism, perseverance, kindness and good humour. But the most important thing was the continued support of the #womenofsixyardsplus. Your faith in our work and your encouragement have always been our fuel- we hope we can continue to be deserving of this love.
And as we progress in 2021, hope and hard work are the only currency we have, but we look forward to the new year with determination in our eyes and a smile on our lips.
Best wishes to everyone for a healthy, happy, contented 2021. May all of your dreams come true.
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Supportive spouses/partners that make equal parenting and shared responsibility a reality
Supportive families that will adjust to changing gender roles and move beyond traditional ideas of what men and women should be doing
Supportive workplaces that will actively help women work around their responsibilities
Supportive Governments that make public transport and public spaces safer for women
Supportive friends that help each other out without being judgemental about it
Overall, supportive societies that will collectively work to harness the potential of half the population of the world!!!
I believe we must succeed, not IN SPITE Of being women, but BECAUSE we are women.
]]>Six Yards Plus started, for me, as a way of opening up more wardrobes to sarees.
One of the main questions I get asked very frequently is ‘Do you directly work with the weavers?’
My honest answer to that is simply- ‘As much as possible’. And more often than not, most people are surprised when they hear this answer.
In my experience with buying and selling sarees and handlooms, this is what I have seen happening. Buyers want to believe that they are making a difference when they make a purchase and equally, sellers need to tell buyers the story of the saree in order to stand out in the crowd, I find there are typically three narratives that one comes across.
The first is the save the weaver/artisan narrative. Companies, designers and brands will tell you about how they work directly with weavers and artisans and that they are saving them from abject poverty.
The second is the save the craft narrative. That there is intangible and tangible culture, and skills being lost because weavers or artisans are now abandoning their traditional work and moving on to other, more lucrative livelihoods, and therefore we must all come together to preserve these arts.
The third narrative one hears about is how organisations are providing a livelihood to women or the disadvantaged by imparting skills to them. And by creating a market place for the products they make, they are assuring livelihoods of their trainees. This is a livelihoods narrative, similar to the save the weaver narrative, but slightly different because these skilling initiatives focus typically on empowerment of women and their economic independence.
Now, all of these narratives position the brand, and by extension, its customers and clients as the saviour.
Please don’t get me wrong, there are several organisations in the private, government, non-profit as well as social enterprise space that do this. With an incredible amount of humility, patience, and with high quality outcomes. However, there are far too many brands, organisations, designers and all other formats of sellers, that will claim much, much more than they actually do
And having spent a large part of my career in monitoring and evaluation of development projects, I have never been truly satisfied with claims of ‘touching a million lives’. It appears specific, but is in reality very obscure. There are lots of ways to touch a million lives- it doesn’t follow that all of them have impact.
So how does one cut through all the marketing hype and analyse these claims? Here are some things to consider if you truly want to understand whether and how such claims are credible.
First and foremost- look at the ownership. How does the money flow? Do the artisans have a stake in the profit of the organisation? If so, it is more likely that some of these narratives are true.
On the other hand, if the product is purchased from weavers/artisans, or even made to order for the brand/organisation in question, it is still only a sourcing arrangement, and nothing more. In my view, this does not translate into a right to claim that one is saving anything.
It usually means that there is a profit-making organisation (which is a good thing, by the way!), which is sourcing (hopefully at fair prices) product from artisans and providing a market to these products. This is itself is a great arrangement, and I would love to see more of these in the artisanal livelihoods space.
But it will continue only as long as there is a market for the products made by those artisans/weavers. As the market changes, and the organisation (understandably) has to keep its share and margins alive, it will move on to the next thing that the customer is clamouring for- there have been numerous examples of a ‘wave’ of popularity for certain crafts and weaves, and when the wave dies, because, well, the market is a fickle friend, the brands/organisations move on.
What then happens to the weavers or artisans who were being ‘saved’?
In a situation where ownership too resides with the artisans, as is the case with many Producer Organisations and Cooperatives, in spite of all their limitations, they will be more incentivised to pivot their model to survive in the market. Much more so than when it is a simple sourcing arrangement.
Therefore, the first thing is to look for who owns it, and who is making the final profit out of the sale.
The second question is, are you actually upskilling artisans? Many organisations do. In which case, both the craft and the artisan are being positively impacted if we are able to find them a good market. But again, the question is, who owns the design? If artisans are producing specific designs which require a specific skill set, has enough been done to ensure that they are not bound to sell their product only to the ‘saviour’ organisation in question.
Especially when design interventions are done on the basis of grant funds, which is the case with many social enterprises and non-profits, there is a duty on part of the organisations to allow artisans to use their skills to sell to others in the market as well. Otherwise, we go right back to the sourcing argument- you are not saving anything in particular, you are sourcing from certain artisans and if you continue to own the design, and do not translate enough of the technique for them to function independently, you are actually operating in a way that contradicts your claim, and you yourself become the gateway or the ‘middle man’ you are claiming to replace.
Which is why, when brands and even several social organisations make claims about ‘our weavers’ it truly angers me, because the skill resides with the artisans, and no one must claim to own them.
The thing to do here, is to separate the skill from the design, and examine if the artisans in question have the capacity and the freedom to pursue the opportunities that these new skills provide them.
Now let us come to the livelihoods question. In one of my conversations with a senior social entrepreneur in the creative livelihoods sector, we were discussing what it takes to actually enhance and nurture creative/artisanal livelihoods. If one assumes that that the MRP of a product has three large elements, more or less equal- raw material, labour cost and overheads & profit. Just for ease of calculation, let us assume that these are equal- as in 33% of the MRP each. This means, for one person if we’d like to enhance their monthly income by Rs. 10,000, we are looking at selling product worth roughly about Rs. 30,000. Now imagine if this is a group of 10 people. That’s Rs. 300,000 per month. We can keep extrapolating, but what is obvious is that this is quite a bit to sell. This may vary from craft to craft, but overall, the logic plays out.
Now let’s come back to how many women you are actually supporting by either procuring from a skilling initiative, or buying retail directly from them.
Of course, no number is big or small, and if we can help even one person, we’ve done good. But that’s at an individual level.
If, however, and organisation or a brand is claiming to empower women and creating livelihoods and economic independence, please consider at what scale it must operate. This is truly possible only in cases like a SEWA or a Fab India (as it was conceived, which I’m told is quite different from how it operates now), where the retail model is well established and the market is truly large scale. Then consider if a brand that was started a couple of years ago by people who may or may not have the depth in the supply chain. Compare their claim of empowering women, to what it actually takes to empower one.
In my view, save for very few exceptions, organisations can either go deep into a particular craft and spend a lifetime working on design revival or intervention, capacity building of artisans and market expansion of that one craft, or a small number of crafts, typically limited to a geographical/cultural grouping.
Or they can go wide and stock a variety of products which come from across the country, but will most probably not have the ability to support artisanal communities to a great extent, except through fair-trade practices and absorption of inventory risks. That is a really good thing to do, but to claim that it is single handedly saving the art, the artisan and the culture is a little far-fetched.
As a mindful customer, though, do analyse claims and question brands that make tall claims. That is the first step to mindful consumption. Do buy what you like, what you can afford, and most importantly, what you are likely to use. Let us not assume more greatness than we deserve.
A year filled with new beginnings and unchartered territory for a small start up like ours.
We went from 1 retail location to 4, 3 employees to 10 and brought more than 35 types of weaves from 12 states of India under our roof, expanding our network of weavers and artisans and supporting their eco system in our small way.
We launched the 6YP signature series, adding artisanal sarees specially created by us for you.
We won a hard fought competition for women entrepreneurs and were also recognised for our work.
We moved into a beautiful new office that provides the perfect environment for us to work on going to the next level.
We started the fun coffee mornings at our adda, and also continued to spread our saree love through workshops and exhibitions.
We collaborated with like minded entrepreneurs, taking us one step closer to our aim of creating a community of women entrepreneurs who are addressing pressing environmental and social issues.
And of course we met many many inspiring women and brought sarees into their lives.
But most importantly it was, for me, and for all of us at Six Yards Plus, a year where so many of you came out to support us in this journey. From giving me timely and sound advice, willingly trudging across town to support us in the pink power competition, coming out in huge numbers to support the opening of our new office and store, continuously encouraging us on social media, giving me valuable feedback, opening your connections out to us to being patient with all my doubts and overthinking ... you've all been the core that drives us to do even better.
As we look forward into the next decade, here is a heartfelt thank you from the bottom of my heart. To the Six Yards Plus community that inspires, energizes and motivates us everyday to do better.
A very happy new year from all of us.
And I would probably have continued to operate at that level had it not been for well-wishers who saw more in me than i saw myself, and believed that I was worthy of their trust.
One such person was Anamika. She was, of course, super supportive of the idea of the enterprise- of making sarees fun, affordable and part of everyday wear. But as usual, she goes 10 steps further than most people
Our first face to face interaction with customers was at the TATA BSS Apna Bazaar in Dec 2017. She said, can you do it, I said of course, and then started worrying about how I'd do it 😀.
We put together a collection of sarees, blouses and blouse pieces as well as some jewellery. Amma and I handwrote the tags and manually coded everything.
I didn't have anyone working for me, so I shanghaied a former colleague and Saroja, my household helper at the time, into helping me at the stall. Amma, of course was a constant presence. That is how our retail journey started.
Apna Bazar was a runaway success. I did not imagine I would every see revenue like that! Or that the response to our products would be that positive. And what it did to me as an entrepreneur is tremendous.
It made me believe that Six Yards Plus was destined for growth and that the idea I'd had wasn't just a flash of inspiration. It made business sense and had a market. And that transformation, I believe is key for every entrepreneur.
I hired my first full-time staff in December 2017 shortly after Apna Bazar. We moved to a small office in February 2018, and then to a much larger adda in February 2019.
From just blouse pieces, we expanded our product range to over 30 weaves from 12 across states of India. The value created by a transparent and ethical business to the entire ecosystem is so apparent to me.
Livelihoods of 10 people directly, consistent and increasing business to the weaver supply chain, loyal and wonderful clients, 4 retail locations, a small set of awards and appreciation behind us, we are determined to do our best by our suppliers, staff and clients.
And it all started with Apna Bazar for us. So here's a toast of gratitude to Conneqt Business Solutions (Formerly TATA BSS) for believing in us. We promise to make you proud.
]]>From small decisions to big ones, taking risks, pouring in savings, time and effort into something because you believe in it, facing criticism, being trivialised, building and nurturing a team, trying to be a sensitive employer and a transparent, ethical business that cares about the people it works with, says what it does and does what it says.
Doing all this has meant 18 hour working days, many of them on my feet, practically no weekends and absolutely no boundaries between work and home.
And it feels great for this to be acknowledged. WEAIM and Million Moms organised an beautiful event to recognise mothers who are entrepreneurs, this Mother's Day.
The best part was that the memento was given by the children of the entrepreneur. That feeling was so so wonderful!
Many thanks to them!
Here's to the best Mother's Day yet 🥰
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