Cathy Braid and Kirsten Ainsworth launched the first Australian Caravana collection as part of Sydney Fashion Week New Generation in May 2004. Five months later, their second Caravana collection was shown at Melbourne Fashion Week, where they secured their first major stockists. In 2006 Caravana presented collections for Australia in both Sydney and Melbourne, and for Europe in London.

The identifying hallmark of Caravana, sometimes referred to as ‘a label with a conscience’, is that their luxury garments for the Western market are reliant for their unique handcrafted character on the traditional skills of Pakistani women artisans. Braid and Ainsworth’s shared vision in establishing their label was to empower these talented women through employment and so create greater social equity for them. Recognising that this could not be done from a distance, they ‘… saved up some money and got on a plane’ to north-western Pakistan in 2003 and took up residence in remote Chitral valley.

This isolated area is mostly inhabited by strict Sunni Muslims with few accepted work opportunities for women. Initially the decision-making men of the community were strongly opposed to the employment of women by Braid and Ainsworth. However, through teaming up with a locally run NGO (part of the international Aga Khan network), they were able to establish work centres whose management was entrusted to people who understood the prevailing culture and in which men could endorse the women working. Once persuaded, several men in fact asked if their wives could participate and the women’s work has come to be highly valued by their families and community.

From a small start, Caravana has built a network of ten centres. Each has a female manager and employs some 500 skilled women who can drop in to collect their work, or stay and work in a flexible environment that is sensitive to their family commitments. On approaching a centre, the sound of women talking, laughing and singing may be heard coming over the 3-metre-high walls of the compound. Inside, as many as fifty women may be found sitting on floor cushions in the rooms or under the trees in the garden, with their children playing around them as they work and gossip together.

Prior to the establishment of Caravana, the Pakistani women’s designs had become stagnant while local understanding of the Western market was virtually non-existent. Braid and Ainsworth depend strongly on the local environment for design inspiration and retain control over every creative decision. Through the women workers’ individual interpretation, each garment and accessory is then imbued with the unique quality of the handcrafted. Ultimately each item carries the personal imprint of both designer and maker, a symbiotic relationship which has been a highly successful formula for Caravana.

The practical reality of living and working in the physical, emotional and cultural isolation of north-west Pakistan has however been a challenging choice. On difficult days, Braid and Ainsworth say that it is working with the women that gives them the heart to continue.

The entrepreneurial nature of these women is the most exciting surprise. In two years we have watched women who were silent transform into strong characters who know how to value their time and effort.

Looking to the future, the development of such entrepreneurial skills, as well as the design and marketing talent to date provided by Braid and Ainsworth, are vital in order to ensure that the established work centres become ultimately self-sustaining.

Text © Powerhouse Museum, 2006.

This essay by Christina Sumner is extracted from the book Smart works: design and the handmade, Powerhouse Publishing, available from April 2007.

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