From Practice to Innovation: The Sampler Shirt

April 1st, 2024
From Practice to Innovation: The Sampler Shirt

Embroidery has long been at the heart of MarketPlace's mission. From its inception, the primary goal was to create job opportunities for women, particularly considering their traditional roles as homemakers, which were especially prominent back in 1980 when we first began.

Artisan doing embroidery with her child reading

Hand embroidery played a pivotal role in achieving this mission for several reasons:

  • It allowed women to work from home, accommodating their schedules and household duties.
  • Unlike machinery, it didn't take up valuable space in their homes.
  • We tailored our embroidery designs not just for aesthetics, but also with the mission of empowering women in mind, making it accessible to learn.

    • As a result, every garment sold by MarketPlace features hand embroidery.

    Three images of hand emboridery

    Recognizing the importance of skill development, a few years ago, we initiated additional training for women in the seasonal embroidery styles. Each woman was tasked with practicing stitches on half a meter of fabric. Moreover, we encouraged them to showcase their favorite stitches and designs on some of the fabric, leading to the evolution of samplers.

    Artisan's with embroidery samplers

    Adele Mattern, our Creative Director, travels to Mumbai biannually and works closely with fabric printers and embroidery artisans to finalize our product line. During one of these visits, she stumbled upon a pile of samplers and was inspired. Using a couple of samplers, she designed a remarkable shirt, giving birth to the Sampler Shirt.

    Sampler Shirts

    The tradition of creating samplers continues each season, serving as an indicator of artisans who may require further embroidery training or feedback on their work quality. It also continues to serve as design inspiration.

    Artisans discussing embroidery

    This narrative encapsulates the essence of MarketPlace: addressing one problem while simultaneously fostering creativity, problem-solving, and highlighting issues faced by women. It's a collaborative journey with the artisans at every step.

    CLICK HERE TO SHOP OUR SAMPLER COLLECTION

    Read more about our Sampler Shirts in our other blog.The Sampler Shirt: Where Handwork Meets Precision

    Tags:   Handcrafted Design  
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