About us

Via India introduces unique, sustainable clothing from Indian fashion designers. We know exactly how each collection was made, by whom and with what raw materials. With all clothing you will find a story of the makers.

Ancient crafts, original designs

Many unique textile crafts in India are in danger of extinction. Did you know once upon a time the embroidery, block prints, chintz and muslin in Europe were a big hit and a luxuary for the rich and famous? But yes, that was a long time ago. The European love for quality fabrics and crafts has long been replaced by an addiction to cheap synthetic factory textiles.

Still, old crafts and natural fabrics are on the rise. Perhaps thanks to the fast fashion industry, because more and more consumers are looking for alternatives due to the flood of miserable stories about human exploitation and poisoning of nature. So maybe that's why you arrived here? Anyway, good to have you here! Here you will get to know the quality that your bed-bed great-grandparents fell in love with. And we too of course. You will find high quality clothing at Via India. Ancient crafts in unique clothing designs with a mix of Eastern and Western clothing styles.

Partners

We work with fashion designers in India who work sustainably and socially. We know them all personally and as far as possible we also visit the weavers, block printers, tailors and cotton farmers they work with. Here you can read more about our partners .

hand-spun and hand-woven cotton

SOCIAL IMPACT

Manual spinning and weaving mainly impacts the lives of women and children. It is usually women who spin. They can do this at home and that means that they can be there for the children and earn an income themselves. In addition to women, weavers are also men, they carry on a tradition of many generations and can do this work at home. For the men, this means that they don't have to look for work in a city hundreds or thousands of miles away, unlike so many.

IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Cotton that has been manually spun and woven is usually native Indian cotton. These are old types of cotton that have been cultivated naturally (ie organically) for centuries.

working with local craftsmen

SOCIAL IMPACT

Crafts in India are passed on from generation to generation. Block printers, embroiderers, textile dyers and weavers are highly specialized and have mastered the profession to perfection. Their major concern is that the craftwork pays so poorly that their children no longer want to continue it and choose a career in, for example, the IT industry. A real concern. Young people who do choose the craft do so very consciously out of love for the profession.

IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Block printers and textile dyers traditionally work with natural dyes that they make themselves. Not all block printers do this, but they always use environmentally friendly dyes.

How it started

Sandra Blok founded Via India at the end of 2018 after many years of working as a freelance journalist and copywriter. She traveled to India for the first time when she was nineteen. It was love at first sight. Since then she has traveled regularly (sometimes at long intervals) through the land of a thousand and one crafts. Interest in India grew and the love never cooled.

Although she had no background in the textile or fashion industry, this seemed the ideal link to get to know India from South to North and East to West. But that was not the only motivation. With the growing realization that we as clothing consumers are closely linked to the wretched fate of many farmers and textile workers in India, the need grew at the same time to create a fair, social connection between makers and consumers.

"If artisans who love their profession, get appreciation for it from us consumers, a new bond is created that automatically has an impact on the environment. It all starts with connection, the love for quality and craftsmanship. For example: indigenously cultivated cotton varieties only get a chance to survive if we see how beautifully and skilled hand-woven fabrics are made. And textile workers who are forced to work in factories under appalling conditions can only escape the situation if we recognize the craftsmanship of handmade fashion and are willing to pay a normal price for it.

The pursuit of a sustainable, fair and environmentally friendly fashion industry really starts with ourselves. I do not think that new fabrics and new techniques can offer a permanent solution to the crisis that this immensely polluting fashion industry has caused. Large, powerful players in the raw materials and production market will not break the current chain. Neither are the large fashion retailers whose revenue model is based on a lot, fast and cheap. The key is in us. "- Sandra