Wouldn’t it be nice to know how our clothes are made? Wouldn’t be great for us to care and ask questions when we walk into a high-street brand store – so this shirt was made in Bangladesh, are your workers treated well, are they paid enough for the work they put in, are they happy with their work? The concept of Slow Fashion is slowly trickling into the society wherein we simply start by enquiring where our clothes came from.
One of the champions of this movement is Shannon Keith, the CEO of Sudara, who in her own way is trying to bridge the gap between the consumer and manufacturer. Sudara is a mission-driven lifestyle brand that exists to advocate on behalf of and empower women in India who have escaped from, or at the highest risk of, human trafficking by providing dignified employment opportunities.
Sudara is a mission-driven lifestyle brand that exists to advocate on behalf of and empower women in India who have escaped from, or at the highest risk of, human trafficking by providing dignified employment opportunities.
Keith grew up in a large and loving Mexican-American family in Southern California. From an early age, her mother gave her the confidence that she could do and be anything she set my mind to.
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Recalling the trip, which prompted her to start Sudara, she says, “While travelling throughout India in 2005, I was a part of a freshwater well dedication ceremony. Unbeknownst to me, the well was to be placed in a brothel community. During my trip, I started to ask questions and heard stories of sex trafficking and witnessed women being forced to sell their bodies in order to feed their families. When I returned home, I was compelled to create an organisation that would make a lasting impact for women and their families.”
Keith finds herself constantly working to be a disruptor and innovator in this unique and special journey. Being disruptive is difficult and challenging in many ways - one needs to communicate their business model to investors and customers and work to educate others on ideas like Benefit Corporations, social enterprise, and deep impact. She feels that it is also one of the most exciting things about her work – “we believe we are shaping the future of social change.”
But why do so many people fail to inquire where their clothes come from?
The entrepreneur explains, “The distance between consumer and manufacturer has become wider and wider, it has become difficult to really know where clothes come from, who makes them, how much they were paid, even full transparency around the materials used when creating them. In part, it is because shopping has become so centred on convenience we are disconnected from the manufacturing process. If we as consumers are not committed to asking questions about production and supply chain, we will not be able to break this trend.”
Another inclusive aspect of Sudara is that each of their products is inspired by and named after a woman who makes the product as part of Sudara’s job development programs. Keith says that is because the women they are working with are at the very heart of their mission.
Another inclusive aspect of Sudara is that each of their products is inspired by and named after a woman who makes the product as part of Sudara’s job development programs. Keith says that is because the women they are working with are at the very heart of their mission. “We love sharing stories of the women who, as part of a skills-training program, create punjammies. We share their stories in a series on our blog and highlight these strong, amazing women each day. It is a daily reminder for us at Sudara, and our customers, of our connection and how our freedom is bound together.”
According to Keith, parallels can be drawn between the slow foods movement and slow fashion movement. As more socially conscious companies emerge and consumers begin asking tough questions of their favourite brands, it will be a smart business to move away from this trend. She stresses, “But it takes collective power, our power as buyers and where we choose to spend our money daily, to truly create a mass shift.”
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The entrepreneur finds it incredibly empowering and important to create a sustainable business culture where women can thrive without sacrificing themselves and their families. She says, “As a wife and a mother of three, I constantly work to integrate my roles as well as model my personal values for my team (many of whom are women). It is my vision to keep growing an organisation that enables my team to work smart, live in balance, and keep positive impact in the forefront.”
Sudara, as a company, has now started to scale and grow rapidly. Rapid growth means the ability to create more jobs and expand their job skills, training programs and wrap-around services. Keith adds, “I am thrilled to lead and grow my team through this next phase of our business and expansion.”
Read More by Amrita Paul
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