New Delhi, 18th April’18: Usha International, a known consumer durable brand has launched a new fashion label, “USHA Silai” that will be available at OGAAN, Malcha Marg, New Delhi

Usha Silai label is aimed at identifying rural women’s potential and creating a platform for them to bring them in mainstream fashion. The Usha Silai collection will carry tags crediting the rural women and the revenue will be shared with the ladies who have stitched these garments. The idea behind the initiative is to create a skilled workpool comprising of rural women who are talented and can create clothes and accessories that can be absorbed in the urban fashion market. This not only creates an opportunity for them to become a successful entrepreneur by learning, creating, and teaching others but also gives migration trend a ditch. This label gives these women financial freedom and helps them uplift their socio cultural standing in the community where they belong.

The first collection under the Usha Silai label  has been created by rural women in four clusters under the mentorship of designer  Amit and Richard Pandav, Sayantan Sarkar, Soham Dave, and Sreejith Jeevan who worked with local women from Usha Silai Schools in the Rajasthan, Bengal, Gujarat, and Puducherry clusters, respectively, the glimpse of which was showcased at a special show on Sustainable Fashion Day during the Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort in February 2018.

Usha International runs around 16,646 silai schools in partnership with 58 NGO partners and 14 corporate/institutional partners.Over 3,18,000 women have completed their course from these Silai Schools and nearly 14,000 women are still associated with the school. There are women earning Rs.1800/- per month, with the highest earning going up to Rs. 45,000/- per month.