We are Fyoli Fyoli, women founded, social impact fashion enterprise. We work with Indian artisans; developing, producing and nurturing, socially responsible fashion. We invest in skill building and co-creating with the artisans to create high quality eco friendly fashion and accessories. Respect for people, the planet and perpetuating India’s rich heritage craft skills are deeply embedded in our founding values. These values guide all our choices in how we procure, create, recycle and interact with our artisans. As we reflect on the kind of impact we want to leave in this world we embrace and live the idea that the world we deserve exists at the intersection of Social, Gender and Environmental justice. A sustainable fashion and ‘artisan made’ industry can play a significant role in crafting such a future.
Fyoli Fyoli is founded at a time when Covid 19 pandemic widened the cracks in the supply chain of handloom and handcrafted products. We believe in the wonderful possibilities of fresh design inspiration in tradition to produce global quality, genuine slow fashion. Such gentle design interventions and collaborations are important to keep heritage crafts relevant in the face of changing times. We believe that promoting handloom sector can play an important role in solving the migration problem from rural areas to the cities for low wage labor.
From our contemporary take on traditional Bagh hand block printing, Batik printing, Sanganeri hand block printing and Nandana printing to weaving Jamdanis we have introduced gentle design interventions/reimagined design language that can be seen in our products. We are also successfully working with Filigree, traditional Thread Patwa, wood carving, tribal glass bead jewelry and miniature painting artisans to create in-house developed fresh designs. We also partner with other non-profit organizations on the ground to act as social impact catalyst like Khamir, Himalayan Blooms, Sasha Fair trade, M Rm Rm, Master G and daughters to name a few.
Fyoli is a yellow spring blooming flower that grows in the Himalayan foothills of India. It is associated with the joyous Phool Dei festival to mark the onset of Spring by people indigenous to this region. Phool means flower and Dei is a pudding which is offered to everyone on the occasion.
Young girls gather flowers from nearby forests and hillsides in bamboo baskets and leave the flowers on the villagers’ doorsteps to wish them prosperity. When’ caught’ leaving the flowers, villagers offer the children gifts and sweets.
Unfortunately mass migration and climate change is a looming threat to such beautiful customs and native fauna and flora. Promoting handloom artisans and local craftspeople creates opportunities for them who then will have a choice to stay in their communities and continue to pursue their craft. Educating our visitors about the importance of supporting rural artisans and weavers is Fyoli Fyoli’s mission. When you buy one handloom product, you are supporting the livelihood of numerous people from land to loom. Our wish is to ‘lay the flowers of prosperity’ in the homes of artisans by working with them, respecting their agency, paying them equitably and help create a thriving ecosystem.
We at Fyoli Fyoli take our corporate social responsibility sincerely, nurturing of craft clusters from scratch takes, time, money and patience. We are particularly invested in marginalized de-notified tribes who still bear the stigma of criminality and social discrimination. We realize that it may take years before a cluster reaches a point where they are able to produce and market their products independently. This is where grants and donations can come in handy to sustain these projects. Though we continue to engage in the process of product development with the grassroot artisans, financial aid is crucial to ensure the success of such initiatives. We have issued financial grants to following three organizations to sustain important work they are doing.
Kota Heritage Society – based in Kota Rajasthan. Presently working on Kalbelia Quilt Revival project in Bundi (Rajasthan). We are pleased to support this initiative by KHS, presently three Kalbelia women are working with a design intern. When we visited Bundi in December 2021 to meet the women artisans in person, we were very impressed to see the beautiful embellished quilts they make using a variety of surface techniques like embroidery and applique. We had seen the photos online but seeing these in person strengthened our belief in this project and the potential it has to create sustainable livelihood opportunity. The project started with crowdfunding and now they are looking to sustain it through sale of the products online but that takes time. Learn about history of Kalbelias and more about this project on our Blog on Kalbelia Community here.
Bhasha Research and Publication Centre – based in Vadodara Gujarat. Adivasi Academy is part of it where our bead project is going on. We will soon be able to offer beautiful beaded jewlery we had specially commissioned through collaboration with Rathwa tribal women, facilitated by Adivasi Academy. Bhasha’s main work is on the Adivasi, denotified and nomadic communities. In addition, we issued a grant to purchase a fiber extracting machine to aid in making accessories using Jute and Banana fibres. There is another community called Sapera (snake-charmers) who are good at Crochet work. The idea is to get the strings made of natural fibres from the Raj Bhoi and get the products made from the Sapera community.
Gramin Shiksha Kendra – based in Sawai Madhopur this organization primarily works on educating children of the marginalized communities who have been affected by the Ranthambore Wildlife Sanctuary. GSK operates on the periphery of the forest where they run schools and education centres. It has a good community connection for more than 25 years. Recently during the COVID period the GSK took up a relief work with a Baori community which is considered to be an ex-criminal tribe. On finding a depressing situation about education they started an education centre in their locality. The community has limited sources of earning thus most of them go for rag-picking. Few among them make flowerpots and sell them in the nearby villages. We issued a grant to this organization to support a project where we introduce natural materials to the artisans where products made by them could find interest among the nature lovers who come for tiger safari. Sawai Madhopur has a very good tourist footfall. To develop products among the Baori a grant was required to put a design intern to start working with them Our donation is being utilized for this purpose.
These are three pilot projects which will greatly help the communities. All these communities are marginalized ones and are considered to be denotified tribes – listed as Criminal Tribes by the British under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 AD. Please refer to our Blog on Kalbelia Tribal Community to learn more.
Fyoli Fyoli is founded by sister duo Meenu Devrani, Seema Bhardwaj and their sister in law Rachna Devrani. We believe that our artisans and all the people across our supply chain are part of our family, our association with them goes beyond mere transactional. We will continue to highlight their work and contribution. Do follow our social media platforms to learn more about artisan stories and craft development.
An artist herself, she offers a unique perspective and creative vision for Fyoli Fyoli. She has a background in graphic design and is a silversmith running her small business out of her home-based studio in Northern California. She specializes in nature inspired textural designs. This influence can be seen in some of the textiles and accessories she has designed for Fyoli Fyoli. She completed a course in ‘Sustainable Materials Sourcing’ From FIT New York before embarking on this venture. She loves to paint botanical art in soft pastels in her spare time. She is a self-proclaimed crazy plant lady and an ardent animal lover. Her life-long love of handmade products and experience of being an artisan herself has helped provide impetus and vision for Fyoli Fyoli.
Rachna has a background in corporate customer service and the airline industry and is the yogini amongst us. Yoga and meditation have become an integral part of her life. She can perform 250 Surya Namaskars with ease at one go and has been awarded for the same. Her smile and quiet resilience are an inspiration to anyone who comes across her. An initial investor in the company, though she is not engaged in the day to day affairs of the company, we value all the counsel and guidance she and her family provides as benefactors of Fyoli Fyoli.
Seema has worked for the corporate world for most of her adult life and is exhilarated to be part of this social enterprise! She brings her attention to detail, industriousness and ability to learn quickly to Fyoli Fyoli. Above all, it is her kindness and passion for social justice that makes her a great asset for our company. She is known in her neighborhood for feeding, caring and sheltering stray dogs and is a big advocate for humane treatment of stray animals. Seema has been involved closely with the operations, accounts and business development.
We are Fyoli Fyoli, a women founded, conscious, social impact fashion and lifestyle enterprise. We strive to develop, produce, promote, socially and ecologically sustainable fashion.
All Copyright © 2021 fyolifyoli
Designed, Developed, Marketed & Managed by Tenjump
All Copyright © 2021 fyolifyoli
Designed, Developed, Marketed & Managed by Tenjump
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