Sometimes, it feels as if there is a tether pulling us towards India. An unspoken draw that lures us back, time and time again. Almost as if the first time our mother visited – well over twenty years ago now – a seed was planted, and those roots softly stowed within us. Beautifully entangled and gnarled now around our very essence. Perhaps India’s allure is that it’s a place of contradictions; sounds, colours, and smells diverging the senses in a way that is at once dissonant and lyrical. Or maybe it’s the overwhelmingly vivid nature of the landscape, or the people with whom a conversation can stretch into an easy, languid lifetime. Perhaps it’s all and none of those reasons at the same time. 

Either way, this story doesn’t finish quite yet. This is a story that webs and weaves across continents, sunrises and summers, and traverses the generations that tie it all together. 

Our mother spent her whole career in the fashion industry, so it was her work that first carried her to India. There, she was introduced to the Sawhney family who run and operate a garment production company in Delhi. Mr. Sawhney has two daughters, who are coincidentally more or less the same age as us. As young women, they moved to New York – one studied at Parsons School of Design and the other worked in the financial business – and for over a decade the city was their home, until the tether tugged, as it so often does, and they returned to India to join their father's company. 

Today, the factory is run by the two daughters, Shuchi and Shubhi. Mr. Sawhney and his wife remain closely involved, and despite his advanced age, he still visits the factory almost every day.

This is where our part of the story enters. We both visited India at different times at different ages. Marie to create her graduate collection and Julie a few years later for a short visit that stretched to almost a year and a half. When we started SKALL, it wasn’t really a question of whether or not we would work with the Sawhney family because we understood that they have a very intuitive way of working and simply craft beautiful garments. We began with a very small collection of ten or so pieces and very small orders, but we knew in our minds what kind of products we wanted for SKALL, and we were certain that they could deliver that vision. It’s no easy thing to find someone who wants to make ten, twenty, or even just thirty pieces, so it was very special that they believed in us from the beginning. Without them, we know we could not have started the brand. 

We are so lucky to be able to work in this way; normally in this industry, when you work with suppliers, you very often change them and start new relationships again and again, but we have maintained this connection over time. We grew up together, and in that time they have grown too and they are bigger than they were then. Today Sawhney makes about half of our collections, with their specialty being light woven pieces. We could find new suppliers, but for us they are a part of SKALL. Over the years, we even became GOTS-certified (Global Organic Textile Standard) together with the Sawhney factory. An achievement we were really striving for, and it says a lot about our shared relationship. 

Our connection to the Sawhney family is strong because it comes down to the people. Our stories are indelibly intertwined. Maybe it’s that they are sisters, given that we’re also sisters. In a way we just feel very similar, and we have great respect for one another. They are not simply people we just work with; they are our family. Over the past twelve or thirteen years now we have grown together and nurtured that small seed.

A country of contrasts

India is such a distinctive country. If you have never been, it can be difficult to imagine what to expect. We had heard that it’s a place that you either fall for and love it, or hate it. It can be quite divisive in that way, a country replete with contrasts – vast contrasts – and there is no in-between. When you land and first step out of the plane, your senses are immediately awakened in an utterly new way. It overwhelms you in the beginning; there is so much to take in. 

You can feel the heat of the sun in rippling waves, even its scent. The balm of cumin and turmeric, even the traffic carries a certain fragrance that melds into the very essence of India. That feeling when you arrive never really goes away, we still feel it each time we go. It’s symbolic of India. It is a country full of feelings, real people, and faith.

You feel this in the markets in Delhi, which have become so important to us. We hunt for new fabrics, old textiles, and any and all kinds of trims. The markets are an endless source of inspiration for us, filled with so many beautiful textiles, many over a hundred years old. Delhi as a city is so green, overflowing with many parks, trees, and flowers, but for us, the colour of India is pink. The magenta hue of the bougainvillea flowers you see everywhere in Delhi. Warm and vibrant as the life you observe in the streets. Pink symbolises love, happiness, and a sense of home. 

That's what we love about making clothes in India: you really feel that there are people behind them. The history and tradition of creating fabrics and clothes is woven into the culture and the people. You can both feel it and see it; the sense is that visceral. When we make clothes in India, every piece has its own signature. Of course the pieces look similar, but they have their own personal and organic character. 

From Delhi, our journey carried us south to where the cotton grows. It is here that the full story unfolds. Grown and harvested in the fields, the raw cotton is spun into thread and then woven into cloth. The significance of the little cotton seed growing was not lost on us. For us, it represents the beginning of what you are wearing and where it comes from. When you see where a garment’s story begins, it is a gentle nudge to take care of and be thankful for your clothing. And above all, to be grateful. 

At SKALL, we have made it our mission to work solely with natural fibres. Everything we do uses natural materials, and we want our customers to have a relationship with the clothes they wear. To know where they come from, what the material is, how a garment is made. To truly know what you are putting on your body.

Clothing is something we take from nature, so it is important to appreciate that. People may think about what they eat or what kind of skincare they use, but they do not necessarily think about the fabrics they wear each day and what those fabrics do to them. Cotton and linen are amazing fibres because they allow the body to breathe. 

Once the cotton is picked, spun, and woven, it then journeys back north to the Sawhney factory in Delhi, bringing us back to the beginning of our story. The factory is a large building with about four floors, and the entire garment-making process happens there. On the bottom floor, they receive and check all the fabrics and then begin to cut. Once cut, the garments are swiftly moved to the sewing departments where they are constructed and sewn. There is also an entire floor for checking, cutting loose threads, and steaming. 

A signature that chimes of India – one which also happens to be our favourite part – comes after the garments are sewn. Pieces are washed in huge machines, and as a final touch, they are hung on the rooftop to air-dry in the sun. We have a lot of whites in our collection, and in this way India gives her final stamp of approval by slightly bleaching the garments in the warmth of the sunlight. 

A hand, a heart, a people

As designers, we feel so humbled to create clothes that might become a treasured memory in someone else’s life. We put effort into crafting our collections, knowing everything should matter, every choice of materials, every little detail, the comfort of the fit and the feeling we get when we succeed in creating something long-lasting. 

If you look to Gandhi, he created his own thread and fabrics as a protest, to set not only himself but India free. The mantra often attributed to him, “you must be the change you wish to see in the world,” is something we truly do our very best to uphold. We believe in doing good in all that we do, thinking positive thoughts, and living in harmony with other people.

There is such a powerful history of textiles in India. For designers like us, it is amazing to witness up close and work with skilled people there. But we also fell in love with the people and the way they look at and live their lives. 

What was really special about this trip, is that we took our mother with us. We have travelled to India many times together, but this trip was significant because we went with the aim to celebrate our relationship with the Sawhney family. The three of us had not been there together for maybe fourteen or fifteen years, so it was wonderful to be there with the family and have everyone together. Our mother's knowledge, after so many years working in the fashion industry, is extremely in-depth. We are all very close, but she is sometimes the hardest person to please, so it was really meaningful to be able to share our work there with her.

And so, this is a story that will endure, lifetime after lifetime, in a way we truly hope the garments we craft do so. Woven into the very fabric of our collective being. Tied together by a love for what we do, what we craft, and the people who make and wear SKALL.