"More and more customers demand transparency and choose quality over quantity."

small-shops: When thinking about it, your way of producing fashion might seem obvious. But it is far from being the standard for the whole industry, so you seem almost like a visionary. How did you get the idea of revolutionizing fashion in this fair and sustainable way?

Jyoti Team: After graduating from high school, Jeanine, founder of Jyoti – Fair Works, took part in volunteer work at the women-led NGO Jyothi Seva Kendra in the Indian town Chittapur. Her experience and the women she met made a lasting impression on her. Once Jeanine’s classmates at university started admiring her beautiful Indian fabrics, the idea of Jyoti – Fair Works was born: A fair fashion label that produces socially and ecologically sustainable fashion.

small-shops: Jyoti is Hindi and means “devine light”. What does that mean to you and why did you choose to call your company after that word?

Jyoti Team: If you ask a native speaker about the meaning of Jyoti, you will get many different answers such as light, rising light or devine light – all of them though have in common, that they refer to hope and something positive that is about to grow. We really love this metaphor as it describes well what we want to do with Jyoti – Fair Works. Moreover, our Indian partner NGO is called Jyothi Seva Kendra, which means as much as bringing light to those who live in

a dark place. Hence, Jyoti as a name is already deeply intertwined with our partner NGO and was also a name that our Indian team-member could identify with. As one of our main objectives is to really create two teams, one in Germany and one in India, that work hand in hand and support each other mutually, rather than establishing a strict hierarchy, this was an important aspect to us.

small-shops: The transparency about your workers is exemplary. On your website you present all of them, showing their names, faces and rules in the company. You even talk about their characters, hobbies and values. How did you get to know the beautiful human beings in India that produce your fashion and why did you choose to work with them?

Jyoti Team: When developing the idea of Jyoti, Jeanine was still in contact with many women she met during her time in India, who were very excited about her plans. By now, 26 women are working in our two stitching workshops in the south-Indian towns Chittapur and Londa. We also work in close cooperation with the local NGOs Jyothi Seva Kendra and Nava Chetana Kendra. Here, socially disadvantaged women get the chance of an education as seamstresses, followed by a permanent employment and fair wages. In addition, the women receive free health checks, workshops regarding women’s rights and labour laws and English-language courses. During many travels through India, we have met every partner along our whole supply chain in person to ensure the wellbeing of every farmer, weaver and seamstress we work with, as well as the high quality of each product. Since we work with small family businesses and cooperatives, all of our products are lovingly handcrafted using traditional techniques.

small-shops: Even during Corona you managed to find a way to keep your workers busy, so they can provide for their families. How does the Lockdown production work?

Jyoti Team: In Spring 2020, India and specifically Chittapur was hit very badly by the pandemic. A lot of people lost their jobs and used up their food supplies. We knew we wanted to help and to make sure that our seamstresses could continue to work, in order to be able to provide for their families. We decided to start producing protective masks, which our seamstresses could sew from home, as we had to close our workshops. On our Social Media accounts and our Blog we asked our customers to purchase our masks. However, instead of sending the masks to the customers, they stayed in India and were donated to local volunteer workers. We are really grateful and impressed by the number of protective masks we were able to donate! Luckily, the situation in India has improved a lot and we are back to our regular production. Currently, we are producing our new Spring/Summer Collection, which we are very excited to release soon!

small-shops: Sustainability is key for your brand so it is essential to you to know your whole supply chain and you are sharing all the steps on your website. In which way do you think you could further improve your high standards?

Jyoti Team: We would love to continue with our educational workshops and even expand them, as well as grow as a company to collaborate with more wonderful people. At the moment, our products are mainly sold in Europe, but we are hoping to win more customers in India, too. We have many ideas for exciting new product categories, however, we also believe that over-consumption is a significant component in the negative impact of the fashion industry. Our goal is to always create timeless and high-quality pieces that our customers will love forever. Nevertheless, we also want to contribute to reducing clothing waste, which is why we created ‘Jyoti – Circular’. Customers can return their Jyoti-pieces to us and we will sell them second-hand for a discounted price. The customer can then decide if the revenues should be refunded or donated to our Trust JYOTI E.V..

small-shops: At the moment your way of production and transparency is exceptional. But you are still only one of a few, that practise it. Do you see some change in the fashion industry and if so, how do you imagine it to be in 20 years?

Jyoti Team: Over the past years, we can see a growing awareness regarding sustainability especially among the younger generation. More and more customers demand transparency and choose quality over quantity. This pressures the fashion industry to make changes. Small businesses with a personal signature are on the rise, too as customers want to be able identify themselves with the brands from which they purchase. These are all signs that make us optimistic for the future.

small-shops: If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

Jyoti Team: If we could change one thing, it would be social justice, equality and democracy for everyone!