SINI DESIGNS PRIVATE LIMITED

In their own words

Founded by me, a woman artisan, SINI DESIGNS Pvt. Ltd. is an Export House of hand woven, hand painted, hand embroidered Garments, Fashion Accessories, hand crafted jewelleries made by women members of the SHGs of my NGO – AASTHA FOUNDATION established in Feb. 2005 to train and empower them to become financially independent and be significant contributor to household income and decision-making processes. Starting my career as an artisan after 10 years of marriage and raising two children, making and selling handicraft jewelleries in traditional melas and shilp haats, it’s the journey of struggle, endurance, perseverance and commitment by a self-driven entrepreneur and leader, who made a group of artisan sisters exemplified and personified by my institution - AASTHA FOUNDATION since 2005 to build capacities and empowering with financial independence. The journey of last 14 years has resulted into establishment of a garment factory where more than 150 sewing units are being run by women for exports and supported by more than 5000 artisans across the states. To teach and guide the artisans I myself graduated as Fashion Designer on the way, empanelled with DCH, Ministry of Textile, GOI, and as an institutionalized platform to showcase and sell, SINI was conceptualized as a global brand. Outstanding achievements:  Emergence of “SMALL SCALE TO CORPORATE” Business Model: Starting the career as artisan myself, the limited platform available has been the major handicap. Providing a platform to these artisans where they could showcase and earn on permanent basis has been my biggest achievement. I have been able to establish that small scale and house hold industries could be modelled under the corporate ambit thus widening the horizon for the artisans. Artisans from North Eastern states, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab who had been not getting due remuneration and recognitions in the absence of market platform and due to exploitation by middle men, have now been a prime source of world class quality products not only at the international level but now in the domestic and the online market also.  GLOBAL REACH: “Inspired from India, crafted for the world” has been my inspiration. It has been my endeavor to connect the creativity of our talented artisans to the International market. The Handicraft Jewellries and Textiles manufactured by the artisans and weavers from North Eastern and other states are exported to U.S.A, Canada, Europe, Australia, Middle East etc. Thus the artisans are not only generating income for themselves, I alongwith them have been able to contribute to Indian economy by generating foreign currency. This effort has been recognised at both national and international level (documents attached).  EMERGING AS A ROLE MODEL: After schooling from St. Joseph’s Convent, Patna, Bihar, graduate from Patna Women’s College, Patna, and post graduate in Physics from Miranda House, Delhi University, the desire, energy and commitment to do something meaningful for the poor and under privileged especially women and to empower them to be financially independent led me amongst them. Starting working as an artisan was also looked down upon but the philosophy of “If there is positivity in the thought process, there is no job that is below dignity. Only the target should be set high” has guided me to metamorphose from an artisan myself to an entrepreneur.  CREATING JOB OPPORTUNITIES: With the invasion of imported and relatively cheaper goods, our handloom sector and handicraft sector have been under stress. Also, machine made jewelleries mostly from China, Thailand and Indonesia further challenged our handicraft jewellery sector struggling hard to survive. I have been able to generate employment opportunities for artisans and weavers who had been struggling to make their both ends meet. They have been given platform of not only exports but also domestic as well as online markets.  REVIVAL OF INDIAN ART: The classical, traditional and contemporary Indian motifs have been losing their shines to digitalised textiles. The household and small scale sector was also losing ground to cheap Chinese garments and survival was a major issue. In the absence of improvement in the skills according to global needs and market trends the artisans were getting jobless and were forced to work as unskilled labour. To attract the buyers who had lost touch with the Indian art and shifted to other countries for sourcing, a handholding campaign was launched to train and improve the skills and value addition in the form of Hand Embroidery, Kashidakari, Zari work, Adda work, Hand Painting, use of Natural Dyes, Block Printing was introduced.  WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: Being a woman myself, I understand the plight of women especially financial deprivation and how it impacts day to day life which in turn has inspired me to articulate my motto in life to support, facilitate and empower women.

Written by the company on its public Startup India profile. Not verified by us.