This month, I was honored to speak with William of Threads of Life, a social enterprise based in Ubud, Bali. Threads of Life works with over 1,200 women weavers and has supported the development of more than 35 weaver groups on 12 Indonesian islands.
Much of our conversation focused on a common question among weavers around the world: “How do we maintain our culture and identity while making a living at the same time?” Threads is an inspiring enterprise that looks deeply at this question and tries to answer it. Their business model uses the real market to reward cultural integrity, promote conservation of the environment, and empower families in some of the world’s poorest places to lift themselves out of poverty.
They promote textiles that are not copies but the latest evolution of living traditions, re-felt and re-imagined by the women who weave them. They provide economic and technical support to help build a more sustainable, natural method of textile production, with cultural integrity at its core.
I spoke with William about how working with artisans is not a one-size-fits-all model, the delicate intricacies that need to be considered, and the sensitive issues that come from offering cultural textiles as commodities. Their approach is one that many can learn from, inspiring weavers to take pride in ownership and achieve extraordinary quality in their work.