At the origin of this journey lies the desire to protect India’s traditional “Khadi” craftsmanship from getting lost in the race of fast & cheap fashion. To ensure that crafts continue to thrive in places where their roots are, Seven Senses puts a deep commitment into its Social Chain and sticks to its no mill-made policy. Apart from this, Seven Senses aims for a social and environmental supply chain. This commitment for society and nature has helped us re-define what true luxury means for us, and laid the foundation to define what we call our own Luxury Standard.
THE CHOICE FOR THE ORIGINAL
Along with locally grown conventional cotton, Seven Senses offers the choice for 100% organic cotton. However, it is our goal to make a transition to fully organic cotton before the end of 2017.
A NATURAL WAY
While regular mills use chemicals for most of their production, Seven Senses has chosen the natural way to prepare yarns. This simple yet the most effective natural process not only enhances the cotton fibre pre-treatment, but also the dyeing process, in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way.
LESS IS MORE
We at Seven Senses aim to use the gift of nature in a respectful way. This is why we use zero percent synthetic pre-treatment that utilises natural sunlight, along with recycled and re-used water, thus requiring 80% less energy and saving 90% more water than regular mill processes.
A NATURAL HABITAT
At Seven Senses, we stand for the preservation of heritage and communities in rural areas. Creating employment in these areas prevent overpopulation in cities, which often leads to bad infrastructure and poor urbanisation. This is why the complete process from the cotton pre-treatment to spinning and weaving is done on private or lent hand-operated machines within the artisans’ villages. Within the communities, work is viewed as a way of life and an added social and financial value that is passed on from generation to generation.
THE VALUE OF TIME
In these time, fast fashion encourages consumer detachment from the owned products. We strive for more knowledge and to educate about the value of hand-made products making our Social Chain as transparent and understandable as possible. A minimum of 10 spinners are required to support a single hand-operated loom. 64,000 meters of yarn needs to be spun for 3 meters of fabric. It takes 1 to 2 days for the threading of the loom. 9 hours of hand weaving on a wooden loom equals 2 meters of selvedge denim fabric.
The beauty of Indigo dyeing is slow by nature. The colour fermentation requires 10 days to 14 days. Each hank group is individually dyed by hand and sometimes up to 10 and more dips, stretching the dyeing to more than 10 days.
THE POWER OF EMPOWERMENT
Seven Senses is committed to ensure and encourage gender equality as well as social power and fair labour. Because of this, Seven Sense’s Social Chain consists of different artisans of which 89% are women and 11% men, all of whom are based in the rural areas of North India.
100% NATURAL INDIGO – 0% CHEMICAL
Seven Senses dyeing facility is located in Bhagalpur and consists of 3 dyers at present. Dyeing is done with natural Indigofera Tintoria made into hundred percent indigo powder or a home made paste. The whole process involves zero percent chemicals, which is not common in most natural dye finishing processes. The yarn is either dyed on hank, or in a jigger or a bucket.
