20.05.2020
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN COMPANIES IN BANGLADESH
DAY II
AARONG
Ethically made handcrafted products – A BRAC social enterprise
www.aarong.com
LIVING BLUE
The largest producer of high quality, authentic natural indigo in Bangladesh
www.livingbluebd.com
www.facebook.com/livingbluebd/?ref=hl www.instagram.com/livingblue.bangladesh
CORR – The Jute Works
The pioneer Fair Trade Organization of Bangladesh working for the rural
artisans
www.cjwbd.com
www.facebook.com/CJW.Bangladesh
BROQUÈ
The first bespoke circular fashion brand in Bangladesh, based in Dhaka.
www.facebook.com/broque.af
www.instagram.com/broque.af
AARONG presented by Tanvir Hossain
Aarong was created in 1976 by BRAC founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed and Ayesha Abed to provide employment, income, and social development opportunities for underprivileged women through the revival and promotion of Bangladeshi handicrafts. Profits from Aarong have been used to extend opportunities to low-income producers and to subsidise BRAC social development programs. Today, Aarong is the one-stop shop for Bangladeshi crafts and has grown to one of Bangladesh’s largest retail chains. Four decades in, Aarong emphasises the strongest connection between thousands of rural artisans and a growing urban customer base.
LIVING BLUE presented by Murtaza Jahangir
At Living Blue, artisans not only get a fair wage and manage and run their own businesses, but also have total control over profits. The surplus generated by various social enterprises contributes to the general well-being of local communities and helps to create a sustainable social, cultural and economic life. Living Blue is the largest producer of the high quality, authentic Bengal natural indigo in Bangladesh, reviving the famous original Silk Road history for which the Bengal people are known for. Living Blue has 3000 indigo farmers and over 200 artisans and dyers as members, spread into hundreds of villages in northern Bangladesh, thereby creating prosperity and stability in the surrounding villages.
CORR – The Jute Works presented by Milton Suranjit Ratna
CORR stands for Christian Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation. CORR – The Jute Works is a women’s nonprofit handicraft marketing trust and exporter of quality handicrafts, based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Jute Works represents more than 4,000 rural women artisans in 154 workshops. The Jute Works strives to empower rural women through handicraft production, animal husbandry and small job creation projects. CORR – The Jute Works envisions the Empowerment and Dignity of the disadvantaged and marginalized; especially women, people with disability and indigenous people of the society. It provides capacity building, job training, helps them to develop leadership skills and generates awareness of the women’s plight. It promotes self–help and democratic practice among the women’s handicraft groups. Members share ownership, participate in decision-making and receive the benefits of surplus production. The Jute Works is one of Bangladesh’s largest exporters of handicrafts ensuring trade justice and market access.
BROQUÉ presented by Mahenaz Chowdhury
With her Dhaka based label Broqué, Mahenaz Chowdhury, a local international participant, upcycles handpicked fabric and accessories & reinvents them. She produces custom orders by appointment, fusing art with fashion design.