Our Partners

Coming together for sustainability.

We partner with various like-minded organisations in India to make our upcycled products – ethical material suppliers and cultural craft units who share our vision of social and environmental sustainability. We are very grateful to them for our growth, approach and values and it is a great source of inspiration to be a part of their ethical community.

Making our bags ethical meant being creative at every step of the process. Read about the transformations we made to make our bags as ethical as possible!

Khamir

Our circular fabrics are woven at a cultural craft centre in Kutch.

Khamir is a platform that helps revive the local crafts, heritage and cultural ecology of Kutch, a region in north-west India that is known for its rich handicrafts and textiles.

Dedicated to supporting traditional, family-run weaving skills and addressing the urban waste problem, Khamir started a plastic weaving initiative in 2010 by training women to collect, wash, cut and weave with discarded plastic.

Today, Khamir’s plastic weaving initiative provides employment to waste collectors, medium-skilled weavers, home-based workers, senior citizens and prison inmates. It also educates the community about the harmful effects of plastic waste.

C C Shroff Self Help Centre

A fair trade NGO in Mumbai that tailors our circular products.

The Self Help Centre’s main objective is to provide economic independence to low skilled and physically challenged people. They guide, train and equip them with skills like tailoring, embroidery and handicrafts and provide them with the necessary infrastructure and market for the products.

Since we started in 2019, we have been working with the Self Help Centre for tailoring our products. Sadly, they shut down in 2021 due to Covid. We continue to work independently with their tailoring community and pay them fair living wages.

About Théla - Our Collaborations - C. C. Shroff Self-help Center

Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills Pvt Ltd Co

Our cotton lining fabrics and cotton straps are procured from a certified organic and fair trade mill in Kolkata.

Rajlakshmi sources their organic cotton from Chetna Organic. Their crops are free from pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and GMOs – substances that are harmful to farmers, workers, consumers, and the ecosystem.

Apart from complying with the standard fair trade regulations of no child labor, minimum wage, overtime compensation and no discrimination, RCM provides benefits to the workers such as transport to and from the jobsite, company sponsored meals, a health plan and funding for their children’s education.

Zabreca

Some of the organic fabrics used in our products are naturally dyed in Ahmedabad.

Zabreca is an organization that retails sustainable fabrics, yarns and dyes. They use natural colours extracted from fruits, vegetables and herbs as opposed to the chemical dyes that are toxic for the workers, for us and for the environment.

About Théla - Our Collaborations - Zabreca

Minus Degre

The plastic waste generated during our production is donated to a recycling design firm in New Delhi.

Minus Degre is a design firm that experiments with plastic waste, crafting household products, jewellery and art objects. The firm was established to change the mainstream view of the material and its usage. The plastic we use and throw away everyday can yield products and profit if the resource is channelized by recycling and upcycling. They want to create a product keeping in mind the aspect of sustainability and community – for the people and by the people.