my promise.

this morning i woke up hungover. this doesn't happen to me very often, but patrick and i went to a scotch tasting last night... and well about 4 shots later i was done. i'm a total light weight and didn't drink enough water, so i've kinda been taking my time with what i have to do today. {i'm starting to feel all better now! phew!}

while sipping chamomile tea, recovering from my head pains, i did a little browsing and exploring online of what it's like to work in a garment factory. and mostly... just...ugh. cringe. it's sad. the majority of garment factories in the world, and in los angeles even!, look like absolute shit {what a surprise.} these places appear sad, crowded, dark, and unhealthy. i will never ever ever have anything made in a factory that i wouldn't want to work in.

yesterday i met up with nadya my seamstress in downtown LA, as we always do every 2 weeks to exchange finished clothing for new work. you guys, it's ridiculously ghetto what we do. we meet at a fabric store and i buys some supplies, and then nadya and i drive to a place where parking is free, but not too far away. so downtown, this is just a side street with no grass and no benches or anything like that. we used to stand up, nadya would clean off the back of her car, and we would go through all the bags of clothing on there while i crossed off each item on the checklist. however, {yay for us!} now nayda is making so much stuff for purusha that, well, we get a little tired standing. so we've taken to putting a blanket down right on the sidewalk on some grungy street and just going through everything like that. our own little ghetto picnic. nadya and i giggle a lot at how odd we must look. but it works. i know someday when we have our own space we'll look back and laugh.

each time i meet up with nadya i just love her a little more and more. nadya takes so much pride in her work, has endless spunk, and works so damn hard. i am really really lucky to have her. she makes me feel even more strongly that i have to have a different manufacturing situation as my business grows. i know i might be a little naive, but i still imagine this lovely little space with plenty of sunshine and open air for my purusha "factory" family to work in. to be able to give someone employment, a place where they spend most hours of their lives, and treat them with kindness and respect is such a beautiful and rewarding honor. i don't know really anything about manufacturing overseas, but from what i see on the outside, it seems really complicated. and almost too easy to shrug off the responsibilities of ethics, like good working conditions and sound environmental practices. i have to, totally have to, be able to see every aspect of my creation. {side note, i'm beginning to work with a fabric supplier here in los angeles, where i can visit the mill, so as purusha grows i'll be able to have more control over the full process.}

so this is my promise. to you, to nayda, to my future employees, and to myself. to make sure that where the clothing comes from is as beautiful and pure as the clothing itself. running a business to me is a sort of sacred art, and each piece of it is holy. i vow to keep this at the core of every choice i make for purusha.

and now my head feels all better.

namaste.