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Anchal Project

The Anchal Project is a nonprofit social enterprise that addresses the exploitation of women around the world. Using design thinking to create employment opportunities, Anchal’s products and services support women through empowerment. Anchal’s artisans come from the commercial sex trade in India. Stigmatized and marginalized by society, many were forced into the sex trade due to poverty, lack of education, limited skills and extreme gender inequality. Anchal believes investing in a female commercial sex worker, especially ones with children, is an opportunity to transform an entire families and in turn, society.

The Anchal Project translates the Indian tradition of kantha quilts into modern, contemporary home products and women’s accessories. The usual clash of colors and prints found in Indian kantha, are made more harmonious through the carefully curated color selection of black, gray, indigo, teal, purple and fuchsia.  Overdying transformation the vintage saris into vibrant unified colorations by using dyes like indigo, which leave just a trace of the original pattern showing through. The collection comprises small neck ties, bandanas, scarves, wraps and throws of all kinds for shawls and beds, as well as a variety of bags, pouches, clutches and carry on’s. Some vibrant and brightly patterned, but with a harmony rarely found in Indian kantha’s, some unified further through the use of contrasting kantha stitching.

Website: http://anchalproject.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Anchal-Project

Twitter: @AnchalProject

Instagram: www.instagram.com/anchalproject

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anchalproject