THE ALCHEMY STORY - I feel part Indian – I am so connected to that wonderful country that, after 16 years, feels so “normal” to me now. It's funny to think that, in traveling to such a distant “foreign” land, one could find a sense of belonging and community – but that's what happened! There were meditation retreats in the mountains, all-night beach parties in the south, yoga & massage trainings in the heartland, and of course Alchemy in the desert! I was a part of a tribe of travelers that migrated with the seasons up and down the west coast of India, seeking friendship, spiritual connection & fun.
How did the business emerge? From age 17, my summers back in North America were spent journeying to festivals and Grateful Dead concerts, and managing a popular vegetarian restaurant (the Naam). After graduating from the University of British Columbia with an Asian Studies degree (focusing on Asian religion, philosophy and art), I set off on my first trip to India. It was a calling - I just knew I had to go there, and embark on a path of deeper self-exploration. It did not take long before I became enamored by the amazing fabrics that India had to offer. It was a real feast for the senses. Especially magnetic still are the shimmering silks (silk reflects light better than any other fabric and is a great form of color therapy) and hand-embroidered one-of-a-kind saris. I started by purchasing 20 silk-cotton sari dresses (this type of sari has since become extinct) from a man who was to become one of my dearest friends – really we are now family. He still produces some of Alchemy’s silk sari line. The second season back in India, I increased my purchase to 200 sari dresses. By the third year it was a full-blown line that now included satin sari and cotton items. I pursued my fashion career with a passion.
Life changed in 1997, when Alchemy shifted to primarily a wholesale company. This meant less time traveling in India, and more time on the road back home, with seasonal cross-Canada trade shows. But this is also the point in my life where I dove deeper into the healing arts & yoga. After years of taking workshops & trainings all over the world, I have found a way to combine my clothing enterprise with yoga - by participating, both as an exhibitor and as a student, at several yoga conferences across North America. In fact, Alchemy Fashions have a special appeal to the yoga community, as they radiate with the energy of mystical mother India. Recycled sari clothing, in particular, carries a vibration from the women who previously wore the saris – often my customers are attracted to a piece of clothing without knowing why.
FAIR TRADE / ETHICAL IMPORTS
Alchemy clothes are not mass-produced in big impersonal factories. I work closely with small family-run businesses in India to produce my designs. Many of these families I have been working with for more than 10 years. Our businesses have grown together. I travel to India twice each year to oversee my production, making patterns directly with the master tailors. I know all of my tailors personally, and have spent hours in the rooms where they work. Every workspace is a bright, comfortable, healthy environment. Tailors have regular hours, regular breaks, good benefits and lots of chai! I ensure that each person is getting paid fairly for his or her expert work; in fact, usually I pay double, or even triple, the local wages to my tailors, ensuring them a true “living wage”. The attention to quality is reflected in the pieces themselves. I want tailors to feel pride in their work, and contribute to the good energy required to produce an Alchemy original. That's why you'll find written on Alchemy tags and labels “MADE IN INDIA WITH LOVE”.
Alchemy also works directly with individual craftsmen. Our Lotus Tees, Brocade Bags, and hand-embroidered/tie-dyed/blockprinted Silk Scarves and Cotton Skirts, are all good examples. India had always been known for its amazing craftsmanship, and it is important to support and encourage the use of traditional skills. By directly employing these artisans, we honour their arts, and help shift things back to a grass-roots level, away from corporatization. For my t-shirt line, Lotus Tees, I call upon the skills of several master blockprinters. Each t-shirt is hand-screened! up to 13 times/colour per side. After the t-shirts are stitched, they are passed on to a group of local women who, working out of their homes, adorn them with amazing beadwork. This is a fabulous exchange – giving women access to an income as individual, home-based craftspeople. With my Brocade Sari line, I give the small pieces of fabric left-over from garment production to individual tailors. Also working out of their homes, these tailors receive a living wage making the beautifully detailed bags that are a special part of the Alchemy collection..
RECYCLED SARIS, A LABOUR OF LOVE
A sari is a 5 metre piece of cloth that is traditionally worn by women in India. Alchemy has been making Recycled Sari Clothing since 1991. Using recycled saris is a sustainable way to work with India, turning used garments into contemporary fashion. But this is no easy task. This season, I spent 12 days doing through about 5,000 silk saris per day (that's 60,000 saris!), just to gather 3,000 saris for my line. Most “recycled silk” saris on the market are not silk at all, they are various forms of polyester. It is getting more & more difficult to get soft, strong silk saris in beautiful prints and colors (think about it – Indian women love hot pink, bright yellow and parrot green, and these are the least popular colors in North America). But all this effort means that my pieces stand alone in the recycled sari market. No one else spends so much time hand-selecting all their saris (I also select all the sequin, satin and brocade saris in my line). Alchemy’s silk saris are the best available anywhere, all 100% silk, guaranteed!
ORGANIC COTTON & LOTUS TEES
Now all Lotus Tees, my popular line of colourful printed t-shirts, are made using certified ORGANIC COTTON! I am so ecstatic about this, as cotton is one of the biggest polluters of any crop in the world. Some interesting stats:
-Cotton uses approximately 25% of the world's insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides (including herbicides, insecticides, and defoliants.)
-It takes roughly 1/3 of a pound of chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) to grow enough cotton for just one T-shirt.
The organic cotton we use in our Lotus Tees is SKAL certified. SKAL is an international, independent inspection and certification agency that operates in Europe & Asia.
SITARA & TENCEL RAYON
This line emerged in 2006, as I wanted to make comfortable, practical clothing that could be layered & worn with my other lines. It can be dressed up or down (very dressy when worn with a sequin skirt), or worn as a set. SITARA is 95% tencel-rayon & 5% lycra. Lyocell is made from wood-pulp cellulose. It is known as “eco-rayon” as making it does not involve the harsh chemicals used with regular viscose-rayon. Instead, a biodegradable dissolving agent (amine oxide) is used in a closed-loop process, where 99% of the substance is recovered & recycled back into the next batch. Lyocell is buttery soft, yet strong and machine-washable. This is the new face of Alchemy Fashions. I wear a piece of SITARA myself almost everyday, so I am inspired to put more of my creative energy in this direction.
I value the long-term relationships that have evolved because of my business; I take pride in the business that has evolved because of my ever-deepening relationships with the people and soul of India. Business in India is not cut-and-dry: is an art, a dance of communication (from endless chais and head-wiggles, to late-night phone calls and epic emails); it is rooted as much in trust & friendship, as it is in economics; it requires infinite patience; it involves the heart.
Namaste
Trish / Alchemy
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