House of Wandering Silk
Artisan & Partner Stories
House of Wandering Silk
About
The House of Wandering Silk (HOWS) is a woman-owned-and-operated social enterprise based in New Delhi, India. They create textiles made by hand from beginning to end — by artisans based in India and other countries across Asia. Many of their artisans are women who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Their textiles tell stories. They bring together the skills, traditions, and cultures of artisan communities through a design practice built on a foundation of upcycled, handmade, and vintage materials. HOWS is transparent in telling the stories of the people with whom they work, and actively showcases their artisans through writing and social media — giving credit to the hands behind the work.
HOWS partners with a carefully selected group of organizations and works directly with artisans to ensure they are offering livelihood opportunities to women who need them most, with fair wages and dignified working conditions.
The Work
HOWS’s signature products are their kantha scarves, wraps, and shrugs, handcrafted from vintage saris, and their sari silk necklaces made from leftover scraps. The necklaces are made from wooden prayer beads covered in remnants of vintage silk sari fabric, hand-finished with bright cotton thread. The scarves, wraps, and shrugs are adorned with kantha embroidery by women in a cooperative near Kolkata, West Bengal.
Together, these core products form the foundation of HOWS’s zero-waste approach: nothing is discarded. The vintage saris become the cloth; the scraps become the necklaces; the running stitch that binds layers together becomes the embroidery that defines the piece.
HOWS also sources Nakshi Kantha scarves from women artisans in West Bengal — pieces dense with hand-stitched pattern, each one different from the last.
Impact
- Over nine years, HOWS has had a significant impact on the lives of women artisans — providing safe, dignified employment with fair wages.
- They advocate for their artisans through storytelling, surfacing the issues of poverty, injustice, and inequality that many of these women face.
- The enterprise is built on core values of authenticity, respect, and beauty — and is transparent about the people behind every piece.
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