The artisans of India Sampatti

I'm back today with a slightly different newsletter... at the request of several people in my Instagram community, who wanted me to talk about "the living conditions of my artisans", in other words the artisans with whom I chose to collaborate for my collection, those whose work I want to promote and for whom I created India Sampatti in fact.

But you'll see that during my trip to meet them in September 2024, I actually discovered several realities. Come on, I'll tell you all about them!

For three weeks, I traveled through Rajasthan and Gujarat with Satnam, my Sikh guide and driver, searching for partners to bring my very first collection to life. This journey was interesting in many ways, particularly because of the diversity of the artisans' working and living conditions.
I saw very different worlds - but always driven by the same love of gesture, the same attachment to know-how.

In Rajasthan, thanks to a contact in France, I met the director of a small sewing workshop. Around twenty people work there: two "masters" who take orders and design the patterns, those who prepare them, those who cut them, the seamstresses behind the machines (all men), and three women in charge of quality control. I spent several days with them because our meeting room adjoined the sewing workshop, which I had to cross and recross from the meeting room to a large storage room when I wanted to choose the fabric once the "sample" of the model I had created was ready. This room was also used for cutting on a large, long table.

The working atmosphere in the workshop seemed excellent to me, with cordial exchanges, discussions, and laughter. The comfortable, air-conditioned space has a window overlooking the greenery. So much for the working conditions, but the fact remains that the wages are modest. My dream is to be able to have my own creative workshop with better-paid artisans.

The director also took us to Sanganer, where I was able to visit a printer who worked upstairs in his house. It was there that I understood that this proximity between life and work was a widespread reality.

Because in fact, many artisans work at home. This was even more evident once we arrived in Gujarat. We met weavers who work as a family—father and son, with several buildings, one of which houses their own loom, rooms open to nature, well ventilated to resist the heat. Or printers who, again, worked at home in spaces where there were several buildings in addition to the house for the different stages of the printing process.

These are the artisans I chose for the India Sampatti collection: those who perpetuate tradition by living it daily, with humility and passion.
I bought hand-spun and hand-woven khadi fabric to make blouses, beautiful dupattas printed using the Ajrakh technique, and stoles in Tangalya weaving—a rare technique now mastered by just 15 families. Each piece bears their story, their gestures, their roots.

These artisans do what they love, at home, surrounded by their loved ones. But all this remains fragile. Industrialization, fast fashion, and cheap synthetic fabrics are disrupting this balance. Younger generations often don't take up the torch: they go to factories, lacking opportunities in the craft industry.

And then there are those who have managed to make it big. In Bagru, I met a printer who made his fortune through a collaboration with a Japanese designer: his property is large with several buildings, he has artisans employed year-round, he hires for production periods, and he has his own museum. In Patan, Gujarat, I visited an exceptional house where the art of double ikat is still practiced. Their saris sell for between €1,500 and €7,000 to a wealthy Indian and foreign clientele. Here too, the family has its own museum (there is a fee to visit).

So I discovered that there isn't just one reality: there are a thousand ways to make a living with your hands in India. All are precious. Some are prosperous, others are in danger. And if India Sampatti exists, it is also to help ensure that this incredible know-how is not only intended for an elite but also to support the most modest, allowing them to live from their art and perpetuate it.

I hope you've enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look. If you have any questions, comments, or simply want to chat, I'd love to hear from you.

Thank you for being here, and for being part, in your own way, of this wonderful human and artisanal adventure!