Turning the textile industry upside down with direct sourcing from farmers and providing organic bedsheets, towels and pillows.
When Ami Sata visited Sweden, little did she know she would chance upon a business idea to sell sustainable, organic cotton bedsheets that inherently felt softer than conventional cotton.
Once back, she was appalled to find that all brands were plastic packed and no one spoke about where the cotton was coming from.
She says, ” Just like you question where your food is grown, you also question where the cotton for your apparel and sheets (considering you spend 8 hours directly in contact with it) comes from. From early on, I knew I wanted to reshape the way textiles were being sourced and manufactured. Amouve hence sourced its organic cotton from farmer cooperatives which was then weaved into sumptuous linen.”
However, the textile trade is heavily male dominated. Faced with rejection from manufacturers to being questioned about starting out alone without any male members to support to finally coming around with appreciation from the same people, Ami cannot emphasize enough on the power of grit.
”The 71st manufacturer finally said yes.”
”I do not consider feminism to equate male bashing. Entrepreneurship or starting out with something new is tough, no matter the gender. However, I’d say that as a woman your challenges are relatively different. There’s often this remark stating, ”Inspite of being a woman, you did it all on your own.”
I see an inherent problem with that statement and how people perceive that. It shows that the expectation of a woman making it on her own was never there in the first place. We’ve got to change our thinking to start with and leave aside the slightest doubt that a single woman can’t achieve what she’s set out to. As a woman, you get underestimated time and again. However that’s your greatest strength too.”
Amouve crafts organic cotton bedsheets, bath towels, hand towels, face towels, quilts, duvets, dohars and pillows.