A brand that empowers women artisans in rural India

When Asha Scaria, founder of ethical clothing brand Swara VOW (Voice of Women), broached the idea of an online portal for garments they stitched to the women from the tribal communities of Dungarpur, it was met with scepticism. “The women were suspicious of the idea: they wondered whether, and how it would work. The concept of e-commerce — selling and buying online — was foreign to them. They could not understand how that could happen, and why anybody outside Dungarpur would buy what they made,” says Asha. Two years later, not only has the brand provided sustained employment to women employed by it, but also created in them a sense of empowerment.