It’s almost the end of 2024 and this year is actually a major milestone for us!
2014 was the year the foundations were laid for what we have become. I am taking a little time to look back and share our journey with you. I noticed that as a business with ambitions one actually never looks back but only ahead. So this is a great opportunity to look back and reflect!
When I set off in February 2014 from my then home Delhi, I was determined with no expectations and open for almost everything – quite typical for a 24 year old I would say! I had little cash in my wallet, a small backpack and some “contact pouches” made from recyled saris and screenprinted cover asking people “how do you make this?” in English and Hindi.
I really wanted to understand craft and share this curiosity with others. I headed towards Northeast India, a region which fascinated me and was less discovered in terms of textiles and craft. Here after lots of research I met weaving families, NGOs and small businesses and learnt about the fly shuttle loom in a beautiful home and garden in Garo Hills, Meghalaya using naturally dyed organic cotton with the superb weaver Elasha.
I went on to explore Assam and found out about the precious Eri Silk.
Late April 2014 I headed to Ladakh, a place I knew little about and had never visited. Once again, countless hours of research led me to the community of Kharnak, a nomadic tribe partly settled close to the city and partly living as nomads.
I met a group of women weavers who introduced me to the traditional backstrap loom and I was deeply impressed by the craft and the people.
Besides seeing the making of a finished textile I also really wanted to meet the nomadic community and see where the wool comes from.
A trip in June 2014 changed my life I would say! With extremely limited knowledge of Ladakhi and broken Hindi, I was welcomed by a family and witnessed the everyday life of this community. Being surrounded by thousands of animals, heading up to the mountains for the full day for grazing and sharing the most basic conversations with the shepherds was such a special experience for me.
I made friends with this family and returned in July 2014 during the shearing season to purchase the first 40kg of wool.
This is also when I by absolute chance met Angtak, also a brother of the family who helped me communicate in the purchasing and translated. Little did I know then that ten years after we still share our life and love together.
He was the one who agreed to join me in a wild mission of transporting the wool of 2015 and 2016 on horses, across the Taglang pass of 5300m and down to the valley over a course of three days. I really wanted to experience this important part of our work – the actual sourcing of the wool and transport – in a very slow mode. Looking back it was rather crazy but Angtak was there with me.
The years between 2016 – 2019 were the biggest struggle, working part time in Leipzig, Germany, while setting up a business, falling down, getting up, and repeat this many times. Definitely the hardest years of the business!
The years between 2016 – 2019 were the biggest struggle, working part time in Leipzig, Germany, while setting up a business, falling down, getting up, and repeat this many times. Definitely the hardest years of the business!
Fast forward to 2019 when we started building our house and studio in Choglamsar, Ladakh, where some of you have already visited.
Once we took the decision to move to Ladakh and create a base for KAL over there, things became easier. Of course, construction was crazy and a full time job but surely, once everything was completed in 2022/2023, absolutely worth it!
And here we are, it’s the end of 2024 and ten years have flown by.
And here we are, it’s the end of 2024 and ten years have flown by.
This summer while we went for our wool sourcing trip was the time I realised where we have come. I left the family yak hair tent at night to see the stars, and I stood there at the animal pen around hundreds of animals and just watched the stars and moon. I felt deeply touched of being there, reliving emotions from ten years earlier. I shed a couple of tears, felt grateful and full of humility. This was when I truly looked back at the past ten years and remembered how things were.
It is our team who make KAL what it is. As a founder with an initial vision it is so satisfying seeing what this vision has turned into.
So a happy 10th anniversary to us! We hope to continue this journey of slow growth, create more precious textiles and as we have said since the beginning “nature’s rhythm sets our pace”.
I hope that our story can inspire others to keep going when it feels right and also getting over the difficult periods of doubts which are inevitably there as well.
Thank YOU so much for being with us and to our customers for purchasing our products and making our work possible. Also to all the people who have always believed in us and are part of our journey - you know if you're one of them! :)
Thank you for your inspiring blog post and huge congratulations on reaching your 10th anniversary milestone. I’ve only recently found out about your work, and I’m really pleased that I have!
Congratulations and Thank you.
Liebe Catherine,
vielen vielen Dank für euer Werk und herzliche Gratulation. Es berührt mich tief zu LESEN – was ich von Anfang an spürte, als wir uns im Grassi erstmals trafen ud dann im Mahlmanns CafE – von welchem Geist deine Mission getragen ist. Und es freut mich sehr für dich, dass du von einem liebenden und geliebten Mann begleitet wirst.
Ich bin diesews Jahr von Sachsen weg in meine Heimat gezogen, den Schwarzwald, wo ich auf 1000 m gerade Schneesturm erlebte.
Gleichzeitig bin ich in eine große Liebe gefallen – mit einem Mann, der in Sachsen lebt…
So lasst uns weiterhin die Wellen reiten – alle
Herzlich
Ariane
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