Zaina

Ensures fair living wage for producers

Discloses the community being impacted

Created using handcrafted methods

Zaina by CtoK, an all-women-led social enterprise, working with small communities of craftspeople in faraway places, affected by decades of violence is a complex process with lots of challenges. It brings products that are derived from traditional crafts and knowledge and are sourced from villages across the Valley in Kashmir, India. The brand helps generate incomes, sustain livelihoods and preserve age-old hand-craft techniques. A decade of work in the Valley in the space of artisanal development with the idea of reorienting Kashmir craft to the modern context has ensured that each of the products developed has a design which has a utilitarian value and an aesthetic that is contemporary. This has resulted in a series of designs interpreting the 600-year crafts of Kashmir, such as papier mache, walnut wood, copper & embroideries in the home and lifestyle space that includes home décor, lighting, dining accessories, toys, bags, home furnishings, garments, and jewellery.

Purpose

Zaina by CtoK stands with a vision to put the crafts of Kashmir back on the map of global contemporary design using traditional and fair-trade practices. The brand believes that good design is at the core of making its crafts and the livelihoods of the artisans sustainable. These crafts - and the stories that come with them - form the foundation of each Zaina by CtoK product. The organization is a celebration of the crafts and crafts people of Kashmir, contemporized but with Kashmir’s unique traditions and skills. Its endeavour is to bridge the gap between the creatively rich Kashmir and the contemporary Indian and global customer by bringing customers a choice of well-designed and skillfully crafted products from the Valley. The brand strives to discover the best designs from artisans and craftsmen from Kashmir, deliver them at exceptional value to customers and at the same time focused on the fair-trade practices.

People

Zaina by CtoK’s parent organisation is Commitment to Kashmir (CtoK), which has been working in Kashmir since 2011 through its end-to-end entrepreneurship building and mentorship program. It has been creating sustainable craft enterprises and livelihoods for the hundreds of artisans that they each in turn support. The brand has impacted around 300 artisan families, involved in craft with their monthly incomes having improved and become steady through the interventions. Their artisans have become the agents of change in Kashmir specially the younger generation of craftspeople who have set an example to take up traditional crafts as means of employment. They remain engaged purposefully and stay away from militancy via meaningful engagements. There is also greater self-confidence and improved self-esteem in their work which is positively impacting the overall mental health of the community facing decades of strife. Its work with languishing crafts has been a step towards reviving dying craft practices.

Planet

Kashmir’s handcrafted heritage has always drawn inspiration from the environment. Traditional craft techniques of Kashmir have deep-rooted up cycling practices which can be seen distinctly in Zaina’s Sakhta range of products. All their handmade products conserve the natural resources, ensure minimum to zero carbon emission thereby protecting the planet.