Check out this new ethical online fashion brand Kathaa, a social enterprise that will provide additional funding for its projects of fashion and homewares, with its first collection of high quality down jackets.
Nepal Youth Foundation UK (NYF UK), a UK registered charity, has been looking after Nepal’s most vulnerable children for over twenty years and was pivotal in ending the Kamalari system– a practice where girls as young as six were bonded into domestic slavery. These girls cooked, cleaned and looked after the animals and children of their bonded families, whilst many were living in abhorrent conditions and suffered daily abuse. To date, NYF has rescued 12,869 girls and the next stage is to help find them employment so that that they can be financially independent and support their own families.
NYF currently runs a vocational training programme that provides training to the girls in high marketability trades such as commercial tailoring. Launching Kathaa, where all the girls that make the products are former child slaves, therefore seemed like a natural progression for Nepal Youth Foundation UK. It is leading the way in giving these former child slaves an independent, economically secure future. Gerry Griffiths, Head of Development at NYF UK says “We wanted a practical and sustainable way to empower the girls and this seemed like the perfect solution. Kathaa can offer them employment and a secure future.”
Kathaa’s very first collection is a range of carefully designed down jackets for men and women. Their trademark feature is the beautiful traditional Nepali Dhaka print that lines the pockets and appears along the neckline. They also boast further features such as their high quality down filling providing maximum lightweight insulation and integrated hood for extra protection. The lower front and inside pockets with zips, the lightweight design and pack away bag also make them extremely practical. Each jacket will retail at £110 with 100% of the profits going back to the charity.
Wherever possible Kathaa uses local materials and because they don’t employ mass-production techniques, each collection is unique and limited edition.
Jackets are available to buy online at www.kathaa.co.uk and other clothing lines, accessories and home décor are planned to follow in the near future.
