Look at the shirt you're wearing; do you know the travels it's been through? Thanks to Birla Cellulose, we now have a better idea!
On Tuesday, after hosting us overnight in their guest house, Birla Cellulose provided us with an amazing tour of their facilities: fabric making behind-the-scenes. Seeing their sign "Birla Cellulose" I wasn't sure if I should expect something really scientific or burlap or what! Actually, Birla cellulose has an intense start-to-finish process of creating Viscose, Modal, & Excel from wood, wood pulp to be more precise. This means that all of their fabric is totally eco-friendly, beating most other sustainable fabrics by a long stride.
We had the chance to tour the entire plant, seeing the planks of hard wood pulp turned into smaller chunks, going through really scientific processes (you would probably laugh if we tried explaining any of those in depth; that's what we have Rajiv for!) and coming out strands of fibers! Wow! And the next part was just as outstanding where it was turned into material.
We are running low on time right now; must get out to explore New Delhi, so you will just have to wait in anticipation to hear what else Birla offered! - Haley
![FASH[india]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdKJyYQj2C72k62ZhX6uX2SyelNGh5kfgDnuI9kL_zjjZSoFKI78N8QWHFd1dnMYJsbELP_5cFDdlTrGRiWP8mKL9ZiO3XF0MId5w3a1xpfjCZNVeawG4b1CEqe2m_-8h8GYXVQgUprE/s1600-r/blog-header-3.gif)
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Dahod
Hey Everyone!
Sorry for the day off yesterday, we were in a rural village, Dahod, having an amazing time seeing the company Sahaj (where Lauren worked for the summer) and finding out about how a smaller company like that works. Starting off the day from an overnight train ride (definitely a new experience) and a 4 hour drive through India country, it was really nice to meet a lot of warm Indians who were excited to show us their work. They create crafts and basically all parts of the business are done in house so it's really cool to see how such a small organization works through all the pieces. We also visited an even smaller village and temple, and got stuck in the middle of their town in a traffic/people/rickshaw jam! It was quite funny.
We drove to Baruch late in the evening and arrived to Birla Cellulose Campus' guest house where we were treated to a wonderful dinner.
We are excited to learn more and tour the fabric factory (the largest of its kind in the world) today!
-Haley
Sorry for the day off yesterday, we were in a rural village, Dahod, having an amazing time seeing the company Sahaj (where Lauren worked for the summer) and finding out about how a smaller company like that works. Starting off the day from an overnight train ride (definitely a new experience) and a 4 hour drive through India country, it was really nice to meet a lot of warm Indians who were excited to show us their work. They create crafts and basically all parts of the business are done in house so it's really cool to see how such a small organization works through all the pieces. We also visited an even smaller village and temple, and got stuck in the middle of their town in a traffic/people/rickshaw jam! It was quite funny.
We drove to Baruch late in the evening and arrived to Birla Cellulose Campus' guest house where we were treated to a wonderful dinner.
We are excited to learn more and tour the fabric factory (the largest of its kind in the world) today!
-Haley
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Who do you know?
My dad always said "its not what you know but who you know"...and Rajiv knows some wonderful people! Our first day in India was greater than we could expect. Waking up to warm chai was only the start; we quickly headed into Mumbai to meet the store designer and owner of Ethnicity, a store that features Indian designs from around 80 villages. It was amazing! The designs in the store were awesome-i got the cutest pillow.
This was followed by an amazing experience from Deepa Ganpule who showed us how the company she works for contracts with huge European labels to do their embroidery and beadwork. We saw every part from start to finish, and it was literally mind blowing the way they hand stitched every detail perfectly. A few of the labels we saw in process were Valentino, Gucci,& Armani...so beautiful!
We capped off our night having a dinner out with the generous Somans. Rajiv's sis-in-law entertained us girls all night long with her wonderful stories of her business & personal past, present, and future. I loved her philosophy of life saying, if you want something bad enough, you will get it! I think I can speak for all of us when I say it was lovely conversation. Mrs. Soman is such a wise and wonderful person and I'm awaiting her book,that I requested she write;]
So my question to you is...who has made the biggest influence on who you are as a person?!
-Haley
I feel like I have seen, heard, smelled and tasted so much of India today! I saw three cows on the street, slums and high rises, the Arabian Sea, bustling people everywhereee, an amazing and welcoming family (The Somans), talented artists creating intricate embroideries, and a little kid happily squating and poopin on the side of the highway....not in Cincinnati anymore! I heard car horns all day... people show no mercy on these roads! I smelled chai tea when I woke up! spicy Indian food at Dinner, a little BO at the mall, and hot rain water as it poured this evening! I just tasted rice, chicken, saucy and spicy veggies, ice cream that looked like turkey (but was actually delicious) Clearly, I don't know the proper names for anything I tried tonight, but hopefully I will learn and eventually know exactly what to order at Ambar when I get home! :)
It was an incredible first day. I am so tired so I gotta get some sleep for tomorrow! We are taking a train overnight tomorrow. We will be going to Bardoa, Dahod, Baruch and New Delhi. may not have internet for a few days :(
Love, Pegs
p.s. kate, tell Ellie I am sorry but I will not be touching any dogs on this trip, let alone bringing one home...and an elephant is a wholeeee other story! haha I don't think so! It is 1: 55am in Mumbai. goodnight.
Wow! What a day!! I think Haley and Peggy covered most of what we did today...but I'd have to say I was most impressed by the embellishments we saw! At the ethnicity store, we saw where a man does custom embellishments...you can bring in any embellishment design and he can finish one that's about 5x5 inches or bigger in about an hour! It was phenomenal! They let us keep a sample swatch of some he had done and I couldn't stop staring at how sparkly and beautiful it was! We also got to see Shevi Exports and the embellishments done by Deepa Ganpule's team. It was AMAZING! I kept thinking back to my first two weeks at White House Black Market when I was sorting bins upon bins of trims, beadwork, and embellishment samples...completely in awe of how intricate each design was. When I was sorting through all of them, I was trying to imagine what kind of machines could do this type of beadwork....and now I know! NO MACHINES! We went into a little room where there were about 20 men sitting on the floor in front of these large wooden frames that had fabric stretched on them. Some designs were large with about 4 men working on the same beaded and sequined designs while others were on small pieces of chiffon that were sewn onto a larger canvas to hold them in place. They were so fast!! We also saw two other rooms where they sew embellishments onto the fabric pattern pieces, adjust paper patterns, do quality control checks of all of the work, and package and send the trims and embellishments to the design houses. The men who worked in these rooms had to have at least 10 years of experience and go through a 2-3 day "interview process" where they show the quality of their work. Even though the embellishments are done in India, all of the pattern pieces are sewn together at the design houses and therefore "Made in Italy" or "Made in France". I feel like those tags should say, "Made in Italy...and India". haha....well since that probably won't happen, just think about that the next time you see something with intricate beadwork or embellishment...chances are, it was done in India by some very talented people!
~~~Christine
This is the embroidery sample we were allowed to keep! Imagine doing this in an hour! uh-- whoa!
It is hard to believe it has only been one day- it has felt like we've experienced an entire week! I am so excited to meet the other girls and see India through their eyes. Since I've been here nearly three months, a lot of the way of life has become so normal to me that I don't notice the cows or honking anymore. Watching them soak it in has allowed me to remind myself, "Hey, you are in India!" Regardless, I am going through a bit of a culture shock. The India I have known and loved over the past weeks was rural India where the food was fresh, the roads were dirt, and the lifestyle was slow. Now that I am in Mumbai, the malls look as though they have been directly transported out of the U.S. I never expected myself to need to adjust to things so mundane as AC and toilet paper, but now I find myself walking around the flat making sure all unneccessary lights are out, I feel uncomfortable when I see women wearing revealing outfits, and I prefer to use my hands to eat. Hopefully this trip will prepare me for my arrival back in the states and I'll continue to learn a lot each day. Already, it's been one of the the most inspiring experiences!
-Your CV,
Lauren (culturevagabond.blogspot.com)
This was followed by an amazing experience from Deepa Ganpule who showed us how the company she works for contracts with huge European labels to do their embroidery and beadwork. We saw every part from start to finish, and it was literally mind blowing the way they hand stitched every detail perfectly. A few of the labels we saw in process were Valentino, Gucci,& Armani...so beautiful!
We capped off our night having a dinner out with the generous Somans. Rajiv's sis-in-law entertained us girls all night long with her wonderful stories of her business & personal past, present, and future. I loved her philosophy of life saying, if you want something bad enough, you will get it! I think I can speak for all of us when I say it was lovely conversation. Mrs. Soman is such a wise and wonderful person and I'm awaiting her book,that I requested she write;]
So my question to you is...who has made the biggest influence on who you are as a person?!
-Haley
I feel like I have seen, heard, smelled and tasted so much of India today! I saw three cows on the street, slums and high rises, the Arabian Sea, bustling people everywhereee, an amazing and welcoming family (The Somans), talented artists creating intricate embroideries, and a little kid happily squating and poopin on the side of the highway....not in Cincinnati anymore! I heard car horns all day... people show no mercy on these roads! I smelled chai tea when I woke up! spicy Indian food at Dinner, a little BO at the mall, and hot rain water as it poured this evening! I just tasted rice, chicken, saucy and spicy veggies, ice cream that looked like turkey (but was actually delicious) Clearly, I don't know the proper names for anything I tried tonight, but hopefully I will learn and eventually know exactly what to order at Ambar when I get home! :)
It was an incredible first day. I am so tired so I gotta get some sleep for tomorrow! We are taking a train overnight tomorrow. We will be going to Bardoa, Dahod, Baruch and New Delhi. may not have internet for a few days :(
Love, Pegs
p.s. kate, tell Ellie I am sorry but I will not be touching any dogs on this trip, let alone bringing one home...and an elephant is a wholeeee other story! haha I don't think so! It is 1: 55am in Mumbai. goodnight.
Wow! What a day!! I think Haley and Peggy covered most of what we did today...but I'd have to say I was most impressed by the embellishments we saw! At the ethnicity store, we saw where a man does custom embellishments...you can bring in any embellishment design and he can finish one that's about 5x5 inches or bigger in about an hour! It was phenomenal! They let us keep a sample swatch of some he had done and I couldn't stop staring at how sparkly and beautiful it was! We also got to see Shevi Exports and the embellishments done by Deepa Ganpule's team. It was AMAZING! I kept thinking back to my first two weeks at White House Black Market when I was sorting bins upon bins of trims, beadwork, and embellishment samples...completely in awe of how intricate each design was. When I was sorting through all of them, I was trying to imagine what kind of machines could do this type of beadwork....and now I know! NO MACHINES! We went into a little room where there were about 20 men sitting on the floor in front of these large wooden frames that had fabric stretched on them. Some designs were large with about 4 men working on the same beaded and sequined designs while others were on small pieces of chiffon that were sewn onto a larger canvas to hold them in place. They were so fast!! We also saw two other rooms where they sew embellishments onto the fabric pattern pieces, adjust paper patterns, do quality control checks of all of the work, and package and send the trims and embellishments to the design houses. The men who worked in these rooms had to have at least 10 years of experience and go through a 2-3 day "interview process" where they show the quality of their work. Even though the embellishments are done in India, all of the pattern pieces are sewn together at the design houses and therefore "Made in Italy" or "Made in France". I feel like those tags should say, "Made in Italy...and India". haha....well since that probably won't happen, just think about that the next time you see something with intricate beadwork or embellishment...chances are, it was done in India by some very talented people!
~~~Christine
This is the embroidery sample we were allowed to keep! Imagine doing this in an hour! uh-- whoa!
It is hard to believe it has only been one day- it has felt like we've experienced an entire week! I am so excited to meet the other girls and see India through their eyes. Since I've been here nearly three months, a lot of the way of life has become so normal to me that I don't notice the cows or honking anymore. Watching them soak it in has allowed me to remind myself, "Hey, you are in India!" Regardless, I am going through a bit of a culture shock. The India I have known and loved over the past weeks was rural India where the food was fresh, the roads were dirt, and the lifestyle was slow. Now that I am in Mumbai, the malls look as though they have been directly transported out of the U.S. I never expected myself to need to adjust to things so mundane as AC and toilet paper, but now I find myself walking around the flat making sure all unneccessary lights are out, I feel uncomfortable when I see women wearing revealing outfits, and I prefer to use my hands to eat. Hopefully this trip will prepare me for my arrival back in the states and I'll continue to learn a lot each day. Already, it's been one of the the most inspiring experiences!
-Your CV,
Lauren (culturevagabond.blogspot.com)
Friday, September 3, 2010
Hello Mumbai!
We officially made it and are all moved into Rajiv's brother's flat that he graciously let us crash in! It is definately a different culture already, which we've seen bits of on our way driving here. We've met up wih Lauren who has been co-oping in a small village of India for the entire summer, so it is really nice to have her along to get us accustomed to the area and foods a little quicker!
We each want to write about our first impressions so I'll start off!
So the plane ride was a little crazy, as you'd expect any 20 hour ride to be! But the meals were amazing, Peggy and I even got special treatment with "special meals" which I think meant vegetarian or sooomething! Besides the babies crying and my tv not working on the first flight, I would say it was pretty successful! I'm excited to see what is in store for us these coming days..
-Haley
Yeah-- about those babies...there were about 5 surrounding us, and the lil one in front of us was absolutely determined to crawl over the seat and grab us!! Between the chorus of babies and failing to come up with ways to sleep "comfortably", I think some of us have only had about 6-10 hours of sleep in the past 3 days...
Driving from the airport to Rajiv's brother's flat was really interesting. I couldn't believe how many people were still out. Some just sitting in front of buildings, some still doing construction work at 2 AM (??) and a million stray dogs roaming and just chilling in the middle of the road.
Well we only have a few hours to get some sleep before we meet with Rajiv's sister-in-law and her company tomorrow, so I'll pass this off to Casey!!
~~~Christine
Hello friends... So we've been on 3 planes in 3 countries in 3 time zones in the past 2-3 days. Needless to say, we are exhausted and can't wait to sprawl out on beds in Rajiv's brother's flat. We were welcomed with such wonderful hospitality. Bottled water stocked. We've been seated in terrible positions in airplane seats for 9 hours at a time. No activity is a killer. But so excited and relieved to finally be in Mumbai and about to engulf in an amazing Indian journey ahead of us :) -Casey
Hi everyone!! It is now 4 in the morning here and we are supposed to wake up at 8 for a full day of plans for Saturday! ah! I guess I am running off of excitement! Right now, I am easing my way into Indian cuisine, with my Kroger peanut butter and some of the ParleG Indian crackers that Rajiv's brother left for us. mmm :) The first flight to Paris was a breeze - movie, dinner, and a nap and we were there! Mom, 1.99 travel pillow was the best thing! thanks! The second flight was a bit longer and I think I was served frozen fish... I was skeptical and had vanilla yogurt with leftover Delta cookies instead :) They didn't have the country music options like on the first flight (Tim McGraw album Lady Antebellum and Sugarland!) sooo I watched a documentary on Indian cuisine hah and read a national geographic on Indian agriculture... the time went by slower. 50% of my luggage made it to Mumbai. One bag is still in Paris! I am sure I can survive without my rice cakes and granola bars. :)
Thanks to Rajiv, for waiting at the airport until 2am! Lauren, you are clearly far more knowledgable about India than the rest of us... so sorry we will be drilling you with questions, and thanks for answering! More tomorrow! I have safely arrived on the other side of the world and I am sooo excited for our adventures ahead! -Peggy
We each want to write about our first impressions so I'll start off!
So the plane ride was a little crazy, as you'd expect any 20 hour ride to be! But the meals were amazing, Peggy and I even got special treatment with "special meals" which I think meant vegetarian or sooomething! Besides the babies crying and my tv not working on the first flight, I would say it was pretty successful! I'm excited to see what is in store for us these coming days..
-Haley
Yeah-- about those babies...there were about 5 surrounding us, and the lil one in front of us was absolutely determined to crawl over the seat and grab us!! Between the chorus of babies and failing to come up with ways to sleep "comfortably", I think some of us have only had about 6-10 hours of sleep in the past 3 days...
Driving from the airport to Rajiv's brother's flat was really interesting. I couldn't believe how many people were still out. Some just sitting in front of buildings, some still doing construction work at 2 AM (??) and a million stray dogs roaming and just chilling in the middle of the road.
Well we only have a few hours to get some sleep before we meet with Rajiv's sister-in-law and her company tomorrow, so I'll pass this off to Casey!!
~~~Christine
Hello friends... So we've been on 3 planes in 3 countries in 3 time zones in the past 2-3 days. Needless to say, we are exhausted and can't wait to sprawl out on beds in Rajiv's brother's flat. We were welcomed with such wonderful hospitality. Bottled water stocked. We've been seated in terrible positions in airplane seats for 9 hours at a time. No activity is a killer. But so excited and relieved to finally be in Mumbai and about to engulf in an amazing Indian journey ahead of us :) -Casey
Hi everyone!! It is now 4 in the morning here and we are supposed to wake up at 8 for a full day of plans for Saturday! ah! I guess I am running off of excitement! Right now, I am easing my way into Indian cuisine, with my Kroger peanut butter and some of the ParleG Indian crackers that Rajiv's brother left for us. mmm :) The first flight to Paris was a breeze - movie, dinner, and a nap and we were there! Mom, 1.99 travel pillow was the best thing! thanks! The second flight was a bit longer and I think I was served frozen fish... I was skeptical and had vanilla yogurt with leftover Delta cookies instead :) They didn't have the country music options like on the first flight (Tim McGraw album Lady Antebellum and Sugarland!) sooo I watched a documentary on Indian cuisine hah and read a national geographic on Indian agriculture... the time went by slower. 50% of my luggage made it to Mumbai. One bag is still in Paris! I am sure I can survive without my rice cakes and granola bars. :)
Thanks to Rajiv, for waiting at the airport until 2am! Lauren, you are clearly far more knowledgable about India than the rest of us... so sorry we will be drilling you with questions, and thanks for answering! More tomorrow! I have safely arrived on the other side of the world and I am sooo excited for our adventures ahead! -Peggy
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Flight to India
How long does it take to get to the other side of the world?
Roughly 20 hours in a plane!
So the four of us are flying out of lovely Cincinnati's airport at 3:30 tomorrow (Thursday). Because of the time difference, we will not be arriving in Bombay, India until 11 pm on Friday!
Our flight has one layover, unfortunately we have to make a stop.....in PARIS! I wish I could say we are going to run around the city between flights, but all the running we will be doing is to get to our next flight on time! So with 10 hours down, we hop on another flight, for about the same amount of time, to India.
I'm pretty excited because on most US flights, the best you get is a Delta cookie (ok admit it, you enjoy it every time, I secretly do.), but for this, we got to request our ethnic meal of choice. Trying to be very diverse in my travel mentality, I chose Asian...fitting for traveling to Asia! I've been taught to cook authentic Asian meals in the past, and am excited at the possibility of crab rangoon and potstickers...or maybe I'm thinking a little far-fetched.
At any rate I'm trying to think positive for 20 hours in a plane. I have a lot of books to finish, and my brother recently handed over his old iTouch, which I'm excited to be able to use to update this during the flight!
Talk to you all before we fly out!
-Haley
Roughly 20 hours in a plane!
So the four of us are flying out of lovely Cincinnati's airport at 3:30 tomorrow (Thursday). Because of the time difference, we will not be arriving in Bombay, India until 11 pm on Friday!
Our flight has one layover, unfortunately we have to make a stop.....in PARIS! I wish I could say we are going to run around the city between flights, but all the running we will be doing is to get to our next flight on time! So with 10 hours down, we hop on another flight, for about the same amount of time, to India.
I'm pretty excited because on most US flights, the best you get is a Delta cookie (ok admit it, you enjoy it every time, I secretly do.), but for this, we got to request our ethnic meal of choice. Trying to be very diverse in my travel mentality, I chose Asian...fitting for traveling to Asia! I've been taught to cook authentic Asian meals in the past, and am excited at the possibility of crab rangoon and potstickers...or maybe I'm thinking a little far-fetched.
At any rate I'm trying to think positive for 20 hours in a plane. I have a lot of books to finish, and my brother recently handed over his old iTouch, which I'm excited to be able to use to update this during the flight!
Talk to you all before we fly out!
-Haley
Monday, August 30, 2010
It's the Week of the Trip!
It's the week we've all been anticipating...time to pack up!
You may be wondering how to prepare for a trip like this; I know I was clueless at first. One of the most frequent questions is about vaccines, and yes, 'different than the norm' vaccines are needed. Depending on your vaccination history each person will need different shots, but I got 4 for this trip (even though the doctor told me I only needed typhoid when I walked in, I somehow came out with 4 band-aids...). Along with that, malaria pills need to be taken before, during, and after the trip since India is a country where malaria is present. It may sound a little scary but we all agree the benefits of this trip are worth the scariness of shots;]
So what to pack?
Of course copies of all important documents...the most important being the Indian Visa, which is a stamp in your passport you are required to obtain before arriving in India. After that, medicines in your carry-on, a rain jacket and sandals (no soggy tennies) since the rainy season isn't quite finished yet, loose clothing, a swimsuit (I hear there are some nice beaches;), antiseptics, and in Rajiv's words "Big smiles, positive attitudes, a willingness to be flexible, and a sense of adventure!"
You may be wondering how to prepare for a trip like this; I know I was clueless at first. One of the most frequent questions is about vaccines, and yes, 'different than the norm' vaccines are needed. Depending on your vaccination history each person will need different shots, but I got 4 for this trip (even though the doctor told me I only needed typhoid when I walked in, I somehow came out with 4 band-aids...). Along with that, malaria pills need to be taken before, during, and after the trip since India is a country where malaria is present. It may sound a little scary but we all agree the benefits of this trip are worth the scariness of shots;]
So what to pack?
Of course copies of all important documents...the most important being the Indian Visa, which is a stamp in your passport you are required to obtain before arriving in India. After that, medicines in your carry-on, a rain jacket and sandals (no soggy tennies) since the rainy season isn't quite finished yet, loose clothing, a swimsuit (I hear there are some nice beaches;), antiseptics, and in Rajiv's words "Big smiles, positive attitudes, a willingness to be flexible, and a sense of adventure!"
Monday, July 26, 2010
About this Trip!
Hello!!
We are a group of 5 girls majoring in Fashion Design at the University of Cincinnati's DAAP program. Together, with the help of our awesome professor and friend Rajiv Soman, we are taking a 17 day trip to India in September 2010 to explore their thriving fashion industry!
This blog will serve as a place for anyone and everyone to get excited with us before our trip and offer suggestions of things we should do. Make sure to read each day during our stay to follow our adventures and reflect back to after we return, as we will continue writing about our follow-up activities. Our travel agenda is extensive and I will be posting various places and things we are doing as our plan becomes finalized.
We are so excited to see the other side of the world and hope you will join us in our adventures through this blog!
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