Transparent, social and environmentally friendly Khadi cotton

Transparante, sociale en milieuvriendelijke Khadi katoen
In the north of India we work with a remarkable textile producer: SPOKSS. Founded by a young woman with a mission: to offer marginalized communities in rural areas a chance at work. Not by building a factory, but by setting up a grassroots movement to preserve the cultural heritage of traditional Khadi cotton.

Cotton Spinners

Richa, founder of SPOKKS (sitting on the left) next to Sandra (Via India) and the cotton spinners Suneeta and Meera with 2 of their daughters.

  • More than 1000 year old tradition

    The cotton spinners have unique knowledge about processing cotton. The traditional khadi cotton is their cultural heritage. They spin on a kisan charkha, a handy, foldable spinning wheel.
    Due to industrialization, these women had been unemployed at home for decades, and the more than thousand year old tradition was in danger of being lost forever. For SPOKSS they now spin cotton again, just at home in their own environment.

  • 100% Transparency in the production process

    For the collections of scarves and clothing that we offer you, we have a number of essential, non-negotiable conditions:

    • transparency of the production process,
    • insight into raw materials used,
    • good working conditions and fair pay for everyone in the chain.

    This non-profit more than meets all the requirements. We get full insight into production processes and raw material use.

  • GOTS certified cotton

    The raw cotton that forms the basis for SPOKSS's woven fabrics is from cotton fields of small-scale organic farmers cultivation. The cotton is GOTS certified.

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Semi-mechanical spinning

With the semi-mechanical ambar charkha women produce very fine cotton thread, suitable for light summer fabrics. They do this with the cotton yarn that has already been spun on the small kisan charkha as a basis

  • Weaving on handlooms

    The cotton threads spun by the women are taken to the hand weavers.
    They too live in rural villages in close-knit communities. Their looms are in a separate room in the house and the traditional weaving techniques they master have been passed down from parent to child for many generations. By weaving cotton fabrics for SPOKSS, they can preserve their cultural heritage and receive fair pay for the Khadi cotton fabrics they have woven by hand.

  • Vegetable dyeing without heating

    For the colouring of the fabrics, green waste and vegetable material that is locally available in abundance are used. The dyeing process is constantly developing. In collaboration with the University of Lucknow, colourfast textile dye is being developed with cold water from, among other things, indigo, pomegranate, acacia and muirberry.
    Alternative methods are also being developed, such as extracting textile dye from seaweed.

  • Fair wear

    In 2020, SPOKSS started with 10 spinners. The organization has since grown into a non-profit that provides sustainable work for over 3,000 craftspeople. As much as 65 percent of sales go directly to them.

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