A peek behind the scenes...

Hello! Jaya here.  

I am so thankful for all of you, new fans and old fans, for being part of our journey here at Svaha! I want to answer all the questions you may have about the 50% tariffs from the US on Indian exports and how that will impact Svaha and our customers. I'll get right to the point - with how steep these tariffs are, we will have to raise prices yet again to accommodate for them. But let's get into the 'why'. 

When you support small businesses like ours, you have NO idea how many lives you are impacting. Just two weeks ago, I visited our main factory in India to meet those that make our clothes and take a close look behind the scenes! 

Me with some of our awesome people at the factory! 

Our fabric is knitted on circular knitting machines. 

The fabric is knit, and then it goes into printing. These are separate units which employ hundreds of people, not to mention the farmers who produced the cotton (we certify ethical labor practices and source our cotton accordingly)! Once the fabric is ready, it goes through a wash cycle (pre-shrunk) and is sent to QA and sewing. In the factory, the fabric is checked for defects. Multiple layers are laid on the table to prepare for cutting.

Our fabric is being printed (left). A worker is setting up her station to sew (top right). The factory has a free childcare center (bottom right). 

Each piece is checked again for defects, and then tied together with pieces of the same size. Once that is done, then it goes into the assembly line for sewing, finishing, more QA, and finally steaming and ironing. Lastly, the garments are tagged, put into bags, barcoded, and packed into cartons to get them ready for shipping. The boxes are either sent to Air cargo or the port for sea shipment (although it is slower, we try to use sea as often as possible for environmental reasons!). Customs agents get the goods custom-cleared and the boxes are loaded onto the cargo and shipped to us. 

Workers are sewing together dresses (left). A worker is pressing and ironing a finished dress (right). 

I am so happy to be able to share this - all of these people get their livelihood because of YOU. Because we can afford to, the farms & factories we use are clean, treat the workers well, and pay them well! Visiting the factory was such an amazing experience and I felt it was important that I share.

Plus, you support our domestic team as well - we have an amazing, hardworking group of people who we can pay fairly and get to work regular business hours (which is often rare in a warehouse!). And finally, thanks to you, we are able to regularly support amazing charities such as The Trevor Project, Seedlings, and more. 

Model Shannon getting ready for the Friendship Circle of VA Disability & Adaptive Fashion Show in a Constellations Glow-in-the-Dark Skater Dress! 

Coming back to the tariffs - many companies are pushing their factories to cut costs so they can keep prices low and competitive, or moving their production to other countries with less ethical labor practices. In turn that means their factory workers will have their compensation cut or even lose their jobs. To me, that is totally unacceptable, and it is important to me that no matter what part of the production process someone is in, that they are treated fairly. Unfortunately, this means we are going to increase the prices just enough to cover the increased cost due to the tariffs. Once again, we will be keeping an eye on this situation and hope it resolves, but we have to be prepared in case it does not.

I hope you will continue supporting Svaha, but I understand the cost of living continues to go up and we are definitely not the only industry affected by tariffs, and that you have to take care of yourselves too. If this upsets you as much as it does us, please consider calling or emailing your federal representatives and making your voice heard. 

With much love, 

Jaya