Clothing at Maiwa is more than an attempt to dress the senses in colourful history and pattern ... it is a powerful means of social change.

Maiwa works directly with village craftspeople to create viable livelihoods and to sustain the voice of handcraft in all its complexity and simple necessity.

Each element of a garment – from the spinning of a cotton thread; to the weaving of a fabric; to the blockprinting and dyeing of cloth; to the design, tailoring and finishing of a piece – is an opportunity to invite an artisan into the process. It is a welcome invitation, for there is no one who can spin, weave, dye, blockprint, design, tailor or finish a garment the way these artisans can. Centuries of traditional knowledge is behind each colour, years of skill are wound into each thread.

Most of Maiwa’s colours are obtained from natural dyes. Indigo, madder, cutch, marigold are just some of the plants that are used to dye our linens, silks, cottons and wools. We have conducted years of research into natural dye use throughout the world.

Maiwa believes in sharing its research through workshops and by bringing master craftspeople together to share natural dye knowledge and techniques.