From the harshest weather condition to struggling to meet the production deadlines, women from USHA Silai School Kashmir finally make it to Lakme Fashion week with their mentor, Fashion Designer Rohit Bahl
From the harshest weather conditions to stiff deadlines, the women from Usha Silai School Kashmir unit battle it all to face the ultimate challenge of showcasing their efforts at the Lakme Fashion Week 2019 with Fashion Designer Rohit Bal
From endless training session to master new techniques, the USHA Silai School women from Kashmir gear up to make clothes for Rohit Bal's Lakme Fashion Week collection
From struggling to make ends meet to creating clothes for a fashion label and walking the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week last year Sunita, Santosh, and Raziaben were among 32 women who lived a dream through silai label
2006 brought Nithari, Uttar Pradesh, into the headlines and presented the world with one of the most convoluted and inhuman stories of violence and murder ever
USHA Silai Sschool is helping women in Nagaland carve out their own destinies through stitching and sewing
Men from rural parts of Tamil Nadu have enrolled themselves for the USHA Silai School programme and are now earning a stable income meet their household expenses
Women from four different zones collaborated with prestigious fashion designers and launched their own clothing line Silai that was displayed at the Lakme Fashion Week 2018. Here's their rags to riches story
The migration rate in some of the villages of Andhra Pradesh have seen a dip after the state partnered with USHA Silai school to set up training centres that not only improve the skills of rural women and men but also enable them to become financially independent
Despite being disabled herself and a wife of a mentally challenged husband, Rekhaben took charge of her family
Determined to uplift her economic condition and provide a better life to her family, Laboni turned her hobby into her profession and opened her own sewing school in 2016
Santosh Kumawat from Jaipur district has trained over 100 women in the last five years and aims to pass on her sewing skill to as many rural women as possible
Daily wage labourer Sunita kumawat dared to dream big and Silai School gave wings to her dreams
After the demise of her parents, Ayesha was left alone as her siblings either got married or moved out of their village in search of work
Determined to provide a better future to her children, A. Metildamary from Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu, joined USHA Silai school in December 2013
From being dependent on in-laws for fulfilling family's basic needs to earning Rs. 20,000 a month, E. Iruthayamary from Pondicherry did it all alone
39-year-old Raziabens disability made survival a struggle till she completed her training from Silai School and turned over a new leaf in her life
From the grassroot level to the big stage of the fashion world, USHA Silai School women have come a long way. Right from the moment they boarded the plane, a first for all of them, everything about this journey has been a life changing experience for all the women
Under the guidance of Amit Vijaya and Richard Pandav of the AMRICH fashion label, Silai School women from Jaipur and Ahmedabad not only learnt new sewing techniques but was also part of the ideation process that established the Silai label
Two designers, Sayantan Sarkar and Sreejith Jeevan, worked their way to understanding their teams skills, training them in areas they lacked and preparing the women to create something they had never done before
Breaking age-old shackles and moving forward towards a bright new future, USHA Silai School women were introduced to the larger business dynamics of the fashion industry in India
Rural women trained in Usha Silai School from different parts of the country, work in collaboration with prominent designers from the fashion world to design trend-setting clothing lines and step out into the world of business
Hailing from a family of manual scavengers, Bhagwanta Bai and Anusuya were also forced to join the practice. However both the women decided to opt out of the family's profession and create a legacy of their own
When financial crisis didn't end despite migrating to Nepal from Bihar, Sangeeta Dhawan decided to brush up on her sewing skills and reinvent her life
Kushalta Ke Kadam, an initiative by USHA Silai School and NDTV has entered its eighth season. The aim is to empower more women across rural India by teaching them sewing skills and helping them open new doors of opportunities for themselves. The initiative encourages rural women to become financially independent and entrepreneurs by taking up sewing and training others in their respective communities.
Since 2011, the USHA Silai School initiative has trained more than 12 lakh rural women through over 33,000 Silai schools, spanning over 20,751 villages across India.
The women earn Rs. 4,000 – 5,000 per month on an average, with the highest recorded monthly earning being Rs. 84,000 in a month. This earning works as a catalyst towards building their self-confidence, reducing gender inequities, and raising their stature within their families and in society at large.