Who are we?

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Saheli Women is a non-profit social enterprise, founded by IPHD in 2015, with the aim to financially empower the ladies of Bhikamkor village in rural Rajasthan through creating ethical and sustainable fashion. 

The Saheli Women is a female atelier established on fair and inclusive principles, with the aim to create prosperity through livelihood opportunities. To achieve this, we empower women through teaching them traditional and modern embroidery techniques. Our atelier is a fear-free creative place for ladies to work where they get the freedom to design their working hours and holidays.

The Saheli Women consists of 35 female  artisans who breathe life into the dreams and designs of our international partners. With the support of our international partners, Saheli women are able to empower and lift themselves and their families out of poverty. 

IPHD manages the Saheli Women production facility for clothing, accessories and homeware out of its community center in Bhikamkor. Additionally, IPHD sponsors the educations of all daughters of Saheli Women members, runs the only female health clinic in the village, and delivers workshops on a range of topics including human rights, feminism, menstrual hygiene, health, and financial literacy.

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Mission

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Saheli, the Hindi word for “female friend,” reflects our enthusiasm for empowering women through economic self-sufficiency.

Our mission is to create employment for women in ethical fashion manufacturing to derive a sustainable livelihood that benefits themselves, their families and their communities.

 

How we work

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All the products made by Saheli Women are designed and sold by our partners — luxury ethical fashion houses and designers from countries around the world including England, Germany, Australia, and the US.

We understand that the clothing value chain is complex, and one of our strengths is that we offer personalized assistance to our partners from the pre- to post-production stages.

We help partners source local Indian fabric and trimmings, including organic cotton, vegetable-dyed cotton, block print, ahimsa silk or satin. We then prepare a sample with a male master tailor in Jodhpur, teach the women in the village to stitch and embroider the designs and send the finished products via parcel to our partners’ warehouses.

Underpinning everything we do is quality assurance. Every article we produce is inspected by our Quality Assurance Team, which includes two female managers in the village — to ensure that it is created to your satisfaction.

Our promise to our partners and our beneficiaries is built on the principles of fairness and non-exploitation.