2 weeks in India: A Y.O.U Travel Diary
This October, I travelled to India to visit the factories and people who make our organic cotton Y.O.U products.
From Bangalore, to Tiruppur, Chennai ... and a few stops in between ... it was a busy and exciting two weeks which I'm really excited to share with you.
Image: Canva
Arriving in India
After a 10 hour flight, I finally touched down in Bangalore at 4am and was met by our Production Manager. The next couple of days would give me a chance to see more of the 'green city', as well as catching up with friends and family.
Image: © Y.O.U
The plan was to drive to our factories in Tiruppur, in the garment-making heart of Tamil Nadu, splitting up the long (& at times crazy!) journey with stops in Mysore, Ooty and Coonoor. Seeing former royal palaces, parks and tea plantations gave me a different view of this part of India and a chance to be a tourist for a couple of days before starting work!
Image: © Y.O.U
Tiruppur - the garment capital of India
After our three-day road trip we arrived in Tiruppur, the knitting capital of India and the city where our main factory is located.
Following a traditional welcome, we began with a tour of the factory, walking through each stage of the production processes used to create our underwear.
The process begins with the knitting of the cotton to create rolls of 'greige', the raw, unprocessed fabric that comes directly from the loom. This is where the organic cotton threads are combined with 5% elastane to give the items the multiway stretch which makes them so comfortable.
Image: © Y.O.U
All of the undyed knitted fabric is then transferred to another factory in the city to be dyed (more on that later).
Next, the layers of dyed fabric are laid on top of each other, 50 layers thick! The workers use our garment patterns to cut out each shape using a huge cutting machine.
Now the sewing begins, as each item is hand-sewn by one of the factory's skilled garment workers.
And finally, finishing and quality checking before dispatch.
We also learned more about the factory's commitment to care and safety policies for their staff, and their Fairtrade certification. It was very important to us to be able to see these policies in practice and we were grateful to the staff for such a fantastic and in-depth tour.
Printing and Dyeing
The next stop on our Tiruppur journey was to visit the dyeing and rotary printing factories nearby. This was a great opportunity to see the processes in action, and it was incredibly exciting to see our Y.O.U signature colours and prints on the rolls.
We also visited a couple of new factories during our visit to discuss potential future partnerships.
A short break in Pondicherry...
From Tiruppur, we headed back towards the coast to Chennai to visit our second factory. We managed a short break en route though, first in Pondicherry, a colourful coastal city, and then Mahabalipuram.
Image: © Y.O.U
Mahabalipuram is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with amazing carved stone temples and monuments. It was lovely to stay in the local fishing colony and witness the daily boat trips going out, as well as the stone carvers & other local crafts people at work.
Back in Chennai
After 3 days on the coast we arrived in Chennai, the city which is home to the final factory on our list. This is the main site for Connoisseur Fashions, who currently produce all of our underwear. It is also where our Y.O.U Make a Difference cotton bags and Y.O.U tea towels are made.
Meeting the team
With another full day in the factory, we had the chance to spend time speaking to the staff there about what it's like to work in the factory. Many of them spoke about how the Fairtrade certification has impacted them, and it was fantastic to get to know more of the people making our pants!
Back home
Flying back to the UK, I was able to reflect on the whirlwind trip. It was a fantastic mixture of factory visits, road trips, catching up with friends and family, and some amazing food, and I am very fortunate to have been able to make this trip to India.
Back in Oxford and I was straight back into the Y.O.U world. I am looking forward to following up the conversations we had while in India though, looking at new products, new prints and new collaborations.
In the meantime we're focusing on Christmas, with all our key ranges back in stock and our shop filling up!
We will be sharing some more in-depth information from our Indian trip over the next few months though, with behind-the-scenes insights, interviews and more!
In the meantime...
- Discover more about the impact of organic cotton
- Read about our 2023 India trip
- And shop some of the styles seen in the factory!
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