Handcrafted Unisex Black and Beige Slipper Socks from India 'Midnight in the Valley' Item ID: 2669925104

Vanessa and Mike, the founders of Himalayan Valley Knitters, talk about their mission's goal, aspirations and achievements.

"Around 2010, we decided to take a trip to volunteer in orphanages in Northern India. It was a life-changing experience. I met the man who would become my husband and a community that would become my family," Vanessa confides. Since 2015, Mike and Vanessa have resided in India, in a tiny Himalayan village, with no road access and many sheep roaming around them. "It is one of the great joys of our lives to work in the orphanages that we support. We are in love with the orphanages. And best of all - I get to do it all with the love of my life," Mike says.

Mike had long harbored a dream of setting up a social enterprise to help create sustainability for the orphanages. While in the bazaar one day, Vanessa held up a pair of the handmade, local socks and asked, "What if we could not only support the children but the women who make these products too?" Mike whipped up a business plan and, six months later with the help of our partners — the founder of one of the orphanages, along with two of the graduates raised in the homes — we decided to start an organization, 'Himalayan Valley Knitters' where we created our first samples with the brand name Fazl.

"For us, the organization has never been just a business. It has always been personal. We started it for the children and women we love and work alongside. The mission of our organization is to help provide orphaned and destitute children with food, shelter, education, and clothing, and to give Fair Trade wages to artisans who hand-make every item. We are committed to supporting orphanages that care for vulnerable children, and we dedicate a portion of our net profits to this cause. Our organization grew out of a deep love for these orphanages and the sacred work they do. We also provide dignified work opportunities for women in need.

"We are very careful about respecting, preserving, and encouraging cultural identity. Our products are made with designs passed from mother to daughter, with artisanal techniques and patterns that are indigenous to the Himalayan people of Himachal Pradesh. Through our organization we are proud to share Himachali work with our customers and celebrate handicrafts that demonstrate the complexity and beauty of their traditions. By creating fair wage employment, or organization contributes to sustaining this wonderful part of Himachali handicraft heritage.

One of the primary ways by which we have gained trust in the community is that we mostly work with local women who are very involved with their communities, and we always ensure that everyone is paid fairly and on time for their incredible work.

"The ultimate aim of our organization is caring for children and employing women at livable wages. Every time we invest in new products, we do it in review of the well-being of the artisans. We scrutinize and question ourselves how our organization can provide the best opportunity for marginalized Himalayan artisans. This is the very essence of why we founded our organization — poverty alleviation and poverty prevention. This has had a direct positive impact on our organization helping to garner trust among the artisans and villages, further establishing our reputation within the community that we serve through offering employment.

"When a new artisans approach us, we provide a starter amount of yarn to begin with. Usually the artisan creates several samples, which often require adjustments, and artisans are paid for samples, too. This is all part of the learning process, which we provide so that that our artisans can be as successful as possible.

"Our organization takes quality very seriously. We've always stood by the idea that a person will purchase once because of the story but will purchase again and again because of quality. In order to benefit the long-term goals of sustainable fair-trade practices, artisans must meet a certain level of quality. We are very patient and encouraging, and promote learning by doing. This is both a benefit to our organization and to the artisan groups.

"Some of the women artisans could not knit but still need work and income. In such cases, we hire the women to work at our organization and take care of the quality control, packaging, stitching, and preparing orders.

"We're always learning and trying to improve as an organization. An important lesson we learned was to build our business in partnership with local people, not in a power-over structure, while being incredibly attentive to small details and finishing a handmade item. We currently have hundreds of artisans under our umbrella, which means careful maintenance and scrutiny of quality control, while being respectful and patient.