I first began travelling to India in 1996 when I fell in love with the country and its resourceful, skillful and charming artisans.  Originally I was importing a wide range of goods to sell in my homewares and lifestyle shops in East Anglia but more recently I founded The Crewel Collective so that I could focus on a particular passion of mine, hand embroidered crewel fabric.

The Crewel Collective is proud to champion the skills of our friends and partners in India, some of whom we've known for nearly 30 years.  We work together to ensure fair working conditions for all our artisans.  Their skills and passion are what drive the production of such beautiful products.  Many of these skills have been passed down from generation to generation and we are fortunate to work with such skilled master craftsmen.

We are enriched by the relationships we have formed with our artisans and the wider community and are honoured to be part of the Better Together Collective, set up by Daisy Fellowes from Kapara London.   The Better Together Collective brings together brands who work in India and want to make a positive social impact.  The organisation is focused on education, specifically supporting girls, and we have linked up with Sneh Girls Shikshan Sansthan, a school dedicated to providing free, quality education to girls who would otherwise be unable to attend school through poverty or child marriage.  Through the initiative we are supporting 3 girls, Chanchal, Divyanshi and Niyati.  

We seek to build a community which sees the purchase of our artisans' skilled work not as fast fashion for the home but skilfully produced works of art that will become the heirlooms of the future.  The Crewel Collective is founded on kindness and collaboration, in design, working practices and aspirations.  We are looking to support each other on this journey and our artisans will always be front and centre of everything we do.

Serena x