Mohop shoes offer infinite possibilities. They have to be intricately laced and tied up with care. They bend to one’s whim. They are fun and sexy.  The eco-friendly design allows the wearer to virtually create a new shoe that suits her mood on a daily basis.
They are never boring and they can always be made to match an outfit. While I would have been sold on these shoes regardless, Annie Mohaupt, the talented
Chicago-based Mohop-master, shoe designer extraordinaire, has managed to tie in something even more beautiful: empowering women and eradicating poverty. She is now offering pairs of recycled saree ribbons made by Jhoole to complement her shoes; not only do they look amazing, but 100% of sales will go towards a Jhoole computer lab that will offer classes free of cost to women and girls below the poverty line. Available on the Mohop website: http://www.mohop.com/collection/accessories.htm

Check out this article from Eco Salon: http://ecosalon.com/recycled-saree-sandals-by-mohop-shoes/

Plans for Jhoole’s production center are well underway. Designed pro-bono by Mike Olson of Rockford’s Larson and Darby Group the center is as beautiful as it is functional. Fund-raising for the center is underway and we hope to start building by this time next year.  The new facility will employ 500 women below the poverty line allowing them to send their children to school and achieve upward mobility for their families and communities.

This month with the help of the Rotary Club of Maheshwar and Chetanya Sewa Sansthan, we organized a Jhoole fashion show. The goal of this project was to allow Jhoole seamstresses, weavers and embroiderers a platform to show off their skills and creativity. All of the designs were created by them without any input from Jhoole designers. Vandana Kewat, a Jhoole embroiderer, said that she had never dreamed that she would have the chance to participate in a fashion show, all the girls around her nodded in agreement. In this rural area, people often think that fashion exists in a distant cosmopolitan world of wealth and glamour. The Jhoole women used to see their skills as simple folk art, but they are starting to appreciate that they can use their amazing traditional techniques in modern and innovative ways. The participants designed garments in Indian, “western” and hybrid styles; they took inspiration from donated fashion magazines and Fashion TV.  Those too timid to wear their own creations, sewed dresses for their daughters to wear. I was pleased and surprised by the fact that although this is a fairly conservative society, no one raised any opposition. Everyone who participated was excited to take part and show off their unique garments.

A group from the Rock Valley College Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) came to Maheshwar for eleven days to learn about Jhoole’s work, get experience in running a social enterprise on the ground, and to help us plan to maximize our positive effect on this community. They participated in the fashion show by acting as judges and choosing 5 finalists. The audience then voted for their favorite dresses and two women tied in first place.

Now that the show is over, Jhoole weavers, seamstresses and embroiderers are more confident, hard-working and enthusiastic than ever. Our work is not just about helping women to gain economic independence… it is about empowering them through promoting creativity and camaraderie.  Almost all of our workers are traditional housewives who used to work on garments alone from their homes in order to pass the time between their chores. Since they have started working with Jhoole they have had the chance to unite and learn from one another. They share original stitches and show off various designs that they have created. They now have a platform that fosters creativity and builds community and their gratefulness makes our work incredibly rewarding!

Here is an interview with Gale Ketteler of Womanspace on Fox 39 about the Womanspace exhibit.

Check out these images from the Womanspace exhibit and the Rockford Register Star “Go” section.

 Award winning designer Karina Michel will be working with Jhoole on creating a cohesive line of beautiful, meticulously crafted garments. These pieces will consist of Jhoole’s hand-woven materials as well as jersey waste donated by Pratibha Syntex as part of their waste reduction initiative, LOOP. Pratibha Syntex is one of India’s leading producers of organic cotton. Pratibha is committed to empowering women and revolutionizing industrial practices in order to minimize environmental degradation; Michel has been assigned to work on a collaboration between LOOP and Jhoole in order to assist Pratibha in achieving these goals. Jhoole will be producing this exquisite jacket and skirt designed by Michel which employs a reverse appliqué technique. To read more about this technique and Michel’s work in general, visit http://www.handeyemagazine.com/node/141.

Maya Verma lives with her husband and three children, her mother in-law, her brother in-law and his wife. These 8 individuals share two small rooms. One of these rooms is almost entirely taken up by Maya’s loom. With the proceeds from the piece woven by Maya, she will be able to have a shed for her loom constructed, freeing up the available space as necessary living quarters.

Deepa Kewat had an arranged marriage when she was 15 years old. She is now 19 years old and has just given birth to her first child.  She used to walk a few miles to work every day where she wove on a loom in a communal shed.  Now that she has become a mother she wants to be able to weave at home so that she can take care of her baby while also earning the income to support her family. She has a loom, but unfortunately she has nowhere at home to put it. She currently lives with her husband and daughter in one tiny room and she cannot afford to build a shed for her loom. The person who purchases her piece of textile art will be providing her with the full funds needed to construct a shed which will allow her to continue to weave and support her family .

I am so excited about the opportunity to help Deepa and Maya in  a direct way that will change their lives drastically!

The Rotary Club of Maheshwar and Chetanya Sewa recently sponsored a health camp for Jhoole weavers and their children.