The journey of Ohrna from the interiors of rural India to the glittering streets of New York has of course been one paved with challenges. From convincing conservative families, reluctant to have their women acquire financial independence to ensuring the quality of the products to finally finding the right market for them, it’s been an uphill task most of the way.
But then transformations require time and tenacity. And today, as Ohrna stands here as a testament to that journey, we feel every stumbling block was well worth the effort.
We’ve mentioned earlier about Ohrna’s goal of helping the environment, empowering rural women and preserving India’s rich craft traditions. But another important objective has been to link people across the globe through our products. Many of our makers, our local women artisans, derive great pride from the fact that their work is being purchased by customers on the other side of the world, in the United States. NY NOW will play a huge role in realizing and furthering this dream of a global link.
While Ohrna launched with the philosophy of providing employment to rural Indian women by equipping them with skills that would generate a source of income, we have moved far along beyond that initial objective, through our presence at NY NOW. We have successfully created products that we believe stand for responsible design on all fronts, and we take pride in showcasing them globally at NY NOW.
Ohrna attempts to not just train and facilitate the growth of our artisans, but also to be the bridge that connects them as well as our rich traditions in crafts and fabrics with an appreciative market worldwide, where their efforts can find both validation and value.
Ohrna believes in responsible design. Our focus is use of sustainable materials, employment of rural women, preservation of rich craft traditions and packaging in up cycled materials.
We train for free and often employ women with minimum skills. We design to customers' needs and also constantly adapt our designs for ease of making, for our makers. Most of our artisans are from Mann Deshi Foundation.