The Sari: Love at First Sight

The Sari: Love at First Sight

 5th Nov 2018 |  Shop |  Fritha Mason


Hi, my name is Arti and I am a Secret Projects Ambassador.

I would like to share with you the journey some of my own Saris have taken, and invite you and yours to also take part...

The Sari is a beautiful, personal piece of clothing which has been honoured through the generations. When you wear a sari, it becomes part of you. The texture, the colours, the integrate embroidery: a sari puts a smile of the whole mind, body and soul. In this way, the Sari tells a thousand stories.

The whole process from deciding which Sari to buy, the actual purchase and finally wearing it is such a thrill. However, there will come a point in time where, after it has been worn a number of times and has reached its peak, a Sari must continue its journey.

Where will that journey take it?

In honour of the beloved Sari, I fell in love with Secret Projects not only because it holds the Sari at the centre of all it does, but also because of its concept and process of transformation. Secret Projects uses the Sari to support and empower women across India.

Secret Projects trains women survivors of human trafficking and women who are at risk of being trafficked to make the Secret Sari Dress. This serves as a form of income generation in areas where there are little or no opportunities for women.

If you would like to see your Sari continue its journey in this way and empower women across India, please consider gifting your Sari to our Sari Amnesty.

The concept is simple: once we have collected 50 saris together, we will begin to sort them. Some will be used by our trainee Makers when they are making their first Secret Sari Dresses, some will be used to make up our vintage Range of Secret Sari Dresses, some will be used to make Kantha blankets and some will be used to make draw string bags and Christmas decorations. All leftover Sari scraps will then be used to make educational packs which are sold globally to textile teachers.

Here are some images of the products the Saris are transformed into:

If you would like to know more about the process or donate, here are a few simple steps:

  1. Please contact me, Arti, via Instagram arti108 or email apatel0@me.com
  2. We can have a chat about what exactly we are looking for (only Saris, and they must have no rips or stains).
  3. We can arrange collection.
  4. You and your Sari will contribute to our Training for Empowerment Programme and will become part of the wider Secret Projects family.

Thank you for support support and time in reading this page.

Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

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