Khushi Kantha

Khushi Kantha:

Khushi Kantha creates ultra-soft, multi-purpose baby blankets, hand-stitched from reclaimed cotton by mothers from the communities hosting the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Khushi Kantha contributes to the circular economy by promoting a shift from ‘take-make-waste’ ‘reclaim-repurpose-reuse’. Our children will inherit the planet – we want to pass it down to them in the best state possible. ‘Kantha’ (which translates as “stitched cloth”) refers to the tradition of mothers crafting blankets for their babies by stitching together their old saris. It is also the name given to the traditional embroidery stitch that is applied over the top. ‘Kantha’ can also simply mean ‘blanket’. ‘Khushi’ is the Bengali term for ‘happy’ – ‘Khushi Kantha’ therefore means ‘Happy Blanket’. Khushi Kantha repurposes the ‘kantha’ tradition, reserving the reclaimed saris for the inside layers of our blankets, and sourcing deadstock cotton fabric for the outside, to which the traditional ‘kantha’ embroidery stitch is applied. Bangladesh is famous for its garments industry. Lots of fabric sadly ends up getting wasted at various stages of the supply chain. This is a particular challenge the industry is facing right now, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to collaborate with like-minded companies to rescue this fabric from landfill.