Selyn Textiles is a Sri Lankan handloom textile manufacturer with a strong commitment to fair-trade and sustainability. For over 30 years, they have been empowering women artisans from rural communities, producing intricately handwoven textiles that are guaranteed to be fair trade and cruelty-free.
The business was set up in 1991 with 15 women by Sandra Wanduragala in Kurunegala with the aim of providing a legacy for her grand-daughter Seleyna. Now the social enterprise creates an income for nearly 1,000 outworkers in rural communities in Central Sri Lanka.
Selyn Textiles is dedicated to promoting sustainability and ethical practices in the fashion industry. The textile collections are cruelty-free (PETA-Approved Vegan) and crafted with the highest quality standards, while ensuring eco-friendly processes. They use OEKO-Tex certified cotton yarn and dyes, Reach, Bluesign, and GOTS certified chemicals, and operate a waste-water treatment plant to protect the environment.
Furthermore, they strive to reduce reliance on imported cotton by sourcing locally and utilizing alternative fibres such as banana and coconut, palm, reed, and jute, all obtained from the community's own backyards. This approach minimizes our carbon footprint and achieves zero waste.
Selyn Textiles is at the forefront of innovation, leveraging cutting-edge technology to ensure transparency and accountability. By integrating blockchain technology into the supply chain, they provide customers with an end-to-end view of our products' journey. This tamper-proof and immutable record enables them to uphold fair-trade and sustainability commitments. They are revolutionising the textile industry by setting new standards in sustainability.
Visit Our Website:
Selyn Exporters
at www.selyn.lk
Kurunegala
Sri Lanka
These skills, passed down through generations, are reflected in the beauty and uniqueness of every Sabahar piece.
Weaving is practiced throughout the country, with each community having its own unique techniques and designs. In the north, weavers are skilled in using 4-harness looms creating detailed textures and designs. In the south, weavers are experts in working with heavy weight cotton threads to create luxurious, knobbly cotton blankets.
In the small community around Kore, Addis Ababa Sabahar is fortunate to have weaving families who migrated from various areas of the country- bringing a great variety of skills and techniques. All of the cotton and most of the silk is produced in Ethiopia. Many of our natural dyes are from plants, insects and seeds found locally.
Sabahar produces towels, table linens, accessories, bath mats, cushions, blankets, throws, scarves and shawls. In 2022, they exported more than 55,000 items, and sold about 25,000 products locally. The average monthly production is about 8,000 pieces. Sabahar is a WFTO member and their textiles can now be found throughout the world as they export to more than 25 companies in almost twenty different countries.
The passion here is not to just ensure hand weaving and spinning livelihoods are respected and preserved, but more importantly, to strengthen and diversify traditional skills so they will still be relevant for years to come. This means practical innovation and investment in technologies and capacity building for artisans, as well as ensuring that products are globally available, competitive and desired. The highest quality possible in terms of materials and workmanship is their promise to their customers.
In addition, they are committed to sustainable, transparent and responsible production practices. In an effort to be a model of eco-friendly manufacturing, they use such innovations such as bio-gas to produce fuel for our dyeing department, solar heating for water, repurposing of textile wastes, and treatment and recycling of water discharge from the dyeing process.
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