Detailed Structure

WHAT TYPE OF WEAVERS WORK WITH BAILOU?

• Jacquard: Complex weaves, double cloth

• Jaamdani: extra weft fabrics

• Chittranjan Loom: thick cotton fabric

• Dhoti weavers: fine cotton weaves of mul-mul

WHY NOT EXPORT?

• Started as export

• Problem lies in the fact that a wall is built up between the actual clients and the supplier: in this case, Bailou.

• Bailou doesn’t depend on trends or forecasts to keep up with the market’s growing demands and needs. Instead, it feeds off the feedback it gets from its clients. This constant loop is necessary for Bailou to keep itself up to date.

• The problem with export is the wall created between the supplier and the client through the distributors is that the loop is broken.

• Current foreign clients: Canada, Denmark, France, Australia, The United States, Japan, and Israel.

THE SYSTEM OF WORKING

Before Bailou,

• Weavers worked under the Mahajan system, or the Union system and were not paid per order, but instead, they were paid monthly.

• The Mahajan also kept lending the weaver money whenever he required which kept him in constant debt.

• There was no profit made by the weaver.

• But, there was a steady stream of income, however low it may have been.

After Bailou started out,

• The weavers were being empowered and made to stand on their own two feet.

• Since they had started small, there was only one family working with them, which meant two looms.

• So, initially, they worked with Direct Vendors as well.

• Direct Vendors are those who take care of all the pre-processes such as reeling, winding, dyeing, etc. They can also get the weaving done. But Bailou stopped using this assistance as their designs started being copied, produced, and sold without their permission.

• Bailou controlled the pre-processes, and the procuring of yarn, and the weavers wove the products.

Now,

• 250+ loom stage.

• It’s more of an independent process – where the weaver has a say in the work he is doing.

• The weavers do the yarn procurement, the winding, reeling, dyeing etc.

• The designs are given to them, and they weave the products.

• Bailou then buys these products off them.

• Bailou has set up a dyeing unit, which the weavers may use if they want: more often then not, they use it, to cut down on extra expenditure. This was set up for quality control.

• Bailou has extended the work to the women in the weaver’s family too. They do all the pre-processes. They also do the final twisting at the ends of a piece (stoles), and the make the fancy yarn. They get paid for this separately.

• There are another group of women who have been employed to do simple kantha work on some of the products.

• The amount spent on each piece is rounded off, and the weaver makes a profit on ever piece of work done.