Tripty Boutique’s New Products Are Here!

Kantha

May 4

Despite all my good intentions, this is my first blog post since February. But it will be an interesting one with updates on my work with the Bangladeshi social enterprise Tripty Boutique (as the handicraft-producing subsidiary of the NGO Center for Development and Peace is called now) and my latest product order!

You may recall that I debated for a long time whether to continue trying to buy and promote Tripty Boutique’s Kantha products, for reasons you can learn about in my previous blog post. I eventually placed another order, which arrived about two months ago. Ever since, I have been busy inspecting, fixing, cleaning, photographing and listing those lovely, hand-stitched items, which is quite a lot of work, but also very rewarding for a person with a Kantha fetish like me!

This time round, I was a bit more hands-on in the design and production process, mainly so as to ensure that the products were up to my standard. So how does one do quality control when thousands of kilometres away from the production location? While internet and technology do help, I have come to find that they still have their limits. My entire work process with Tripty happens online - picking and combining the vintage sari fabrics for the products, providing instructions on a zillion of aspects including size, weight, and how to avoid Kantha stitching pitfalls, and then closely scrutinising high-definition back and front pictures of each item to make sure that there were no serious flaws. It would definitely be so much easier to do all this on site, as so many textile-related aspects cannot be brought across by images.

With regard to the problems I previously encountered, where am I at now?

1) I am still a bad salesperson! I’m now sitting on a stack of beautiful products that I don’t have the time or the heart to really promote! In my defense, I can say that I have not even finished listing all the items in my shop, but once that is done, I really need to lean in and start some serious marketing efforts!

2) How about product quality? We have seen very big improvements here! I can say that I am generally very pleased with the quality of the items I received, with a few exceptions. I am especially happy with the batch of gorgeous Kantha scarves, featuring delightful colour combinations, tidy stitching and beautiful decorative embroidery. Some of them also boast a playful fringe on either end.

The one big remaining quality issue for me is the fact that I still end up finding quite a lot of loose thread ends here and there, which I then spend hours tucking away. Not that I mind too much - picture me sitting on the sofa, with a cup of tea, needle and thread in hand, next to me a pile of Kantha quilts - what more would I need? The downside is that having me do all this mending takes away from the time I could use to actively promote the products. So it remains a major goal for me to get the stitching ladies to deliver Kantha blankets that are no less than perfect!

3) My communication issues have also improved to some degree. Tripty and I still have some misunderstandings here and there - sometimes I receive products that I did not commission, sometimes my instructions still fall on deaf ears. But I am somewhat more confident now that if I point out a problem repeatedly, it will eventually get addressed.

4) As for my difficulties with dealing with the hope placed in me by the Bangladeshi stitchers - yes, I may never manage to turn Tripty Boutique’s products into the most trendy home accessories. But I try to give myself some credit that at least I am trying to make a small change. I am also attempting to help Tripty promote her products to other whole-sellers by encouraging them to contact Tripty and work directly with her. Last but not least, I, with the help of a close friend (thank you Heidi!), set up an online presence for Tripty Boutique that will hopefully make it easier for them to get their products out into the world!