14 designers join forces to help workers and their families with ‘Saving the Artist’ initiative

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
May 29, 2020

A group of 14 Indian designers have come together to set up a charitable initiative titled ‘Saving the Artist’ to support traditional artisans and craftspeople during lockdown and keep India’s craft traditions alive.

 
Saving the Artist was recently launched by a group of designers as a fundraiser to aid artisans. Designers included Neeta Lulla, Farah Sanjana, Shriya Som, Archana Rao, Shehla Khan, Gabriella Demetriades, Jayanti Reddy, Akanksha Gajria, Nitya Bajaj, Eishita Puri, Sohni Patel, Shirin Mann, Suman B, and Ridhi Mehra.

Each designer will put up two of their most popular designs for sale on Instagram and the proceeds from the sale will be divided between the brands’ craft workers and NGO Sneha to support those affected by domestic violence.

“The #savingtheartist initiative has been created to help our unsung heroes of fashion who keep our industry vibrant and flourishing,” participating designer Jayanti Reddy wrote on her eponymous brand’s Facebook page. “In the hope to raise funds to support our embroiderers, tailors, and artists we're putting together a group of 14 designers from the fashion industry and are coming together as a creative community to help support the families of our workers that need us more than ever right now.”
 
“This initiative to save the artist is to promote the backbone of our fashion family- our workers/ artisans,” Neeta Lulla told the Bombay Times. 
 
Many artisans and craftspeople are daily-wage labourers and have struggled as work has dried up during lockdown due to safety concerns and regulations. Some brands have continued to pay their workers’ salaries when they have not been able to work but others have stated that they do not have the resources to do so facing almost zero income during lockdown.