Slow Fashion, De-cluttering and the New Consumerism.
In the age of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) how does handmade still have relevance? Robotics have empowered us to produce ‘at scale and perfection.’ A repeated task executed identically each time is the finality that human progress has strived for – this is the First Order (thanks Ray Dalio!) outcome. Is the Second Order outcome that we are trading our humanity, a little bit at a time? The machines aren’t likely to rule the world any time soon but will our love of technology change our aesthetics? We think not!
As society moved away from artisanal production towards ‘mass and fast’ our appetite for cheap price points fed our base desires….but we have now awoken from the dream and realized that we have too many ‘things’ that represent poor quality and design. Sickened by over consumption and shameful waste we must change our ways. This movement towards ‘deliberate and thoughtful’ consumption is sweeping over all aspects of our lives. From Farm to Table foods, Slow Fashion, and finally to the ‘De-cluttering’ movement the revolution is happening!
As a small manufacturer of designer accessories with it is a real challenge to impact change amongst our various suppliers. Fabric manufacturers, who we rely on, are slow to change and are often structured to only produce at scale and optimize for cost. We are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to upcycle fabric and use recycled and biodegradable packaging material.
Nonetheless, we continue our journey of creation and exploration …..
The wonder of seeing that direct connect from our man made creativity to an object of beauty, the fruit of our human ingenuity, is what feeds our soul. The painstaking toil of these creators resonates with us since, at heart, we are all creative beings in our own small ways. Paint to Masterpiece, Architect to Building, Karigar to Embroidery… and so on.
Artisanal items are having a renaissance amongst consumers. Handmade, or humanmade, has become synonymous with quality production and materials.
We seek out that intersection of quality, beauty and affordability in the design and production of NamJosh head bands. Artisanal products should be accessible and affordable at scale… this is the challenge and opportunity for us. Importantly, the transparency and integrity of our process allows all of our stakeholders to feel that we make a product that is both artisanal and provides an ethical wage to our workers.
It is with daily delight that we watch our Karigars (‘Artisans’) use their god given talent to produce the beautiful NamJosh hair accessories that we share with the world. The process starts with our designers conjuring up beautiful design concepts. They sit with the in-house artist who hand sketches the embroidery artwork onto tracing paper. The artwork is then transferred to an adda (embroidery frame) where the artwork comes to life. Ours is the epitome of ‘slow fashion’ -- Human eyes and hands that work at a finite pace. From start to finish one designer headband can take up to 3 hours to embroider, sew and check. Each sequin, stone or diamante is individually tacked to the fabric.
Our designers sit perched over the adda and guide the Karigars real time in the placement of embroidery material. The unique convergence of color and form is what makes each embroidery motif an individual masterpiece. Unless we experiment on the embroidery frame itself those fortuitous creative moments will never happen. Trial and adjustment, repeat, repeat and repeat again. The tactility of the material on the fabric can never be replicated completely on a computer CAD or on photoshop.
2024 onwards!
For 2024, we have launched a variety of new product which includes bridal hairbands, embellished sling bags, and many new silhouettes. A huge trend alert that we are all over is Bows and Barrettes.
Behind the Scenes… this year, it is our goal to provide more of a glimpse behind the curtain. We want you, our community, to be able to experience the beautiful acts of creation that happen each day in our design studio. Also, it is important for you to get to know the special individuals who form part of our team.
We are nothing without our community and we encourage you to reach out to provide inputs about where you would like to see the brand go in the future – whether this is new product extensions, ideas for expanding our community, or just to say hello. We always love seeing pictures of our community in our hairbands and we encourage you to send those over to us….We would love to repost those on our Instagram.