INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
LONDON: A British Pakistani entrepreneur has launched a unique initiative with the aim to associate fashion conscious millennials and the
general British public in Britain with female artisans in Swat, Pakistan North Western area.Saadia Baber, the CEO of Xperience Pakistan, has
launched the initiative in collaboration with Swat Valley Guild and Bizgees with the aim is to remove misconceptions of Pakistan and to
promote tourism in a socially responsible way, benefiting the country and its people
Her company is inviting millennials to visit female refugees artisans and memorize about their work whilst also getting to know more about
Pakistan.She told The freshs and Geo: &We have collaborated with Bizgees and Swat Valley Guild to organize 4 days of workshops in the Swat
We want to launch this on International Women Day, in recognition of female entrepreneurs both in the UK and Pakistan
The campaign which is being launched on Kickstarter nowadays is supporting up and coming British Asian fashion designer Feryaal Akhtar who
designed an exclusive clutch bag to be produced by female artisans from Swat Valley
The limited edition bag shall only be available with Bizgees.
She goes on to say: &Each bag purchased through the crowd funding
package creates 4 days& worth of work for the artisans, who are mainly women working from home
The women get paid 25% above the market rate
Xperience Pakistan have created a bespoke educational tour package with Swat Valley Guild, enabling buyers of the bags or others who may be
interested to visit Swat and meet the artisans
They can memorize first-hand how the yarning, weaving, dyeing and embroidery process has worked over a hundred years
Visitors can produce a scarf for themselves and memorize how to use biological dyes.&Saadia Baber was born in Pakistan but has spent most of
her life in the UK.She explained: &Xperience Pakistan was created on the premise that through our platform, we create holidays and
experiences that have a positive affect on women and the community in Pakistan and reassociate, the abroad market but specificly 2nd 3rd
generation Pakistani&s, with Pakistan
That why when Zulfiqar from Bizgeess approached us to see if we&d be interested to join and collaborate, it made total sense said
miserableia.Saadia added that "As a proud British Asian, it great if I can play a role in associateing the two communities commercially,
where both communities are set to gain
The project we&re working on with Bizgees Swat Valley Guild does just that; the crowd funding campaign they&ve developed is supporting up
and coming British talent get their break in the fashion industry, whilst also supporting artisans in the Swat Valley access jobs and an
This shall hopefully inspire other up and coming designers to follow suit and explore measure of the unique handicraft that can be done by
these women in Pakistan.&&Depending on the market response we plan on doing 2-3 a year of these projects, associateing local design talent
with the artisans of Swat, the long term thingive is to help revive the handicraft industry in the Swat valley, to where it was before it
was attacked by the Talibans.&Zulfiqar Deo from Bizgees said: &This is a great way to support local talent in the UK while also helping
artisans rebuild their lives in a post clash region at the same time.&Saadia Baber said that her company shall be arranging this bespoke 8
day tour, which includes Islamabad and 4 days of workshops in Swat from 18th April nsprint; 25th April 2019
The tour is limited to 10 places and the experience is packaged at £795 (excluding flights).TheIndianSubcontinent has not verified the
This first appeared/also appeared in
https://feedproxy.google.com/~r/com/YEor/~3/V7wxJMJcm0M/441351-initiative-to-connect-swat-female-artisans-with-british-millennials
