Khaloom: Reinventing Handweaving for Circular and Socially Fair Fashion

Chattopadhyay Amitava; Carrick Anne-Marie; Lee Andrew

Product #:IN-2209

Supplier:INSEAD

Discipline:General Management

Setting:Asia

Details:Case (PDF) • 11 pages • 2024-08-27

Subjects:

Social entrepreneurship

Geography:

Asia

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$9.71

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The case focuses on Khaloom, a Bangalore-based textile design and production house that makes authentic handwoven fabrics from recycled and organic yarns. Its in-house designs are contemporary or blend traditional and modern, and its high-quality fabrics meet both environmental and social sustainability criteria. The case describes Khaloom’s efforts to reinvent handweaving based on circular and socially fair principles. Its long-term goal is to impact the handloom industry in India by creating formal employment opportunities with decent working conditions, upskill its weavers to make consistently high-quality fabrics, and integrate recycled materials. It currently operates one facility employing 18 (17 women) weavers. To achieve operational profitability in the next 1.5 years, Khaloom must achieve a minimum level of scale (60-70 looms) but first must overcome multiple challenges.

Learning Objectives

The case develops students’ understanding of the opportunities and challenges for social innovation that improves the lives of the poor and the viability of the business by integrating weavers as suppliers, offering a fair and sustainable livelihood, and meeting their unmet consumption needs in crucial areas. It shows how a sustainable business can be built by leveraging a combination of technology and artisanal skills (handloom manufacturing) to allow poor weavers to make a decent living and the company to make a profit. It illustrates how, in a commoditized world, craft skills can be leveraged to create consistent quality, using recycled materials to create a differentiated offering - to the point that the main customers of Khaloom’s output are domestic and international fashion designers.