MEET THE KNITTER
Her name is Lakshmi Khadgi. We call her Lakshmi Didi. Didi is a respective way of addressing women elder to you and it means sister. A title that suits her and the way we collaborate❤.
She has been knitting on her own for the past 20-25 years but she joined our little family 5 months ago! Find out more in this beautiful video we filmed with her!
It is a commitment.
Did you know that knitters like Lakshmi only knit from home?
Every piece she creates is a little piece of art that she can knit, from her own home, in her free time. The voice of workload (which is never fulltime) is entirely up to each woman.
• Our knitters group up and often knit together •
It is so beautiful that our didis have the opportunity to share laughter, happiness, loads of chai tea and work at the same time!
We give our knitters the possibility of a longterm sustainable flexible income.
A lot of women, in their mid-twenties and older, are today a part of a generation where education was not widely available in Nepal, which often has meant that they were excluded from professional job opportunities. At Shirley Bredal we give our didis a chance and skills to alleviate their financial burden as well as their social standing.
We offer them fair wages, training, flexibility to work from their own homes and choice of workload. Our knitters have different backgrounds and reasons for working as a „didi“ – which means „sisters“, and our family is big!
Each Shirley Bredal piece is made with the hands of these lovely women from the comfort of their own homes and they spend hours and days to make it! The love and attention for details come from a very genuine desire to create a heirloom piece especially for you. We are so thankful to have these amazing women in our team and very thankful for each of you who support them on a daily base with every purchase!
2 comments
Hi Kiri, thank you soo much for taking the time to watch the video, and to leave a comment.
We have been wanting to do this blog for some time ( needed to learn how to film first haha), and it is so nice to know someone is actually reading what we spent time making and just interested in the social aspect , that goes behind each and every piece <3.
I hear you about the fact that we are missing a stockiest in NZ, We actually had to stop all wholesale this year, as Kathmandu is still in semi-lockdown, and we are extremely challenged, going on month 5.
We could not get raw materials in for the longest time or even distribute to our knitters as ALL private vehicle movement was banned for 3 months. We are hoping to catch up over the next months, and selling worldwide via our webshop only , as that is what we can manage to make , quantity wise in this time.
By the way, that shipping price drops to 25 NZdollars when your purchase above 150 usd, and there is free after a certain amount as well. Big hug
I loved watching this video. As an indigenous woman from NZ it was awesome to see women who are being paid a living wage and also who are able to earn money for their families. I love your clothing, and am so sad that the only stockist we have in NZ is no longer stocking Shirley Bredal. I would love to place an order, but $50NZ is just too much for postage. Please find a new stockist in NZ as I adore your ethical clothing.