Our story
May the maker reign.
reign_wala is a brand of lifestyle clothing and accessories made entirely in partnership with artisans in India with whom we operate a profit-sharing model.
Partners & friends
Reign_wala is a collaboration from start to finish.
Our profit-sharing model enables us to double the wala’s wage in their local market, and we’re hustling to increase this even more as we grow. Profits are paid in cash and are hand-delivered directly to artisans.
A bridge and a window
By operating at the intersection of the developed world and the developing world, and by serving as both a bridge and a window between the two, we are able to do two things really well:
give walas access to a global marketplace in which they would not otherwise participate, and
give customers access to highly unique, expertly-handmade, desirable products that would not otherwise exist, and a highly authentic view into the lifestyles of the people who made them.
We believe (and we think you do, too) that no matter how opposite our lifestyles may be, we’re all more alike than we are different.
reign_wala fosters this belief by creating a value exchange between walas and customers that brings us all closer to each other and to the world we share.
Meet the walas
What’s a wala?
The suffix “-wala” is derived from Sanskrit and is commonly used in Hindi to mean a variety of things. One of its meanings, “the person who makes the thing,” is like the suffix “-smith” in English. Think of a locksmith or a silversmith.
reign_wala is about rewarding makers and experts in developing countries, who use their hard-working hands every single day to make our gorgeous goods. It’s about creating opportunities for these makers to benefit from the global retail economy.
The founder
Hi! I’m Allie.
I’ve pretty much always lived two lives. In one life, I have dream-worthy jobs that allow me to operate at the intersection of customer experience innovation, marketing and revenue growth. In the other life, I backpack as frequently as possible, for as long as possible, while living as simply as possible.
One thing is true in both lives: I spend hundreds of hours every year in local markets around the world. It brings me tremendous joy to connect with local artisans in order to understand their techniques, processes, materials and designs.
My magnetism to local artisans and cultures inspired me to dedicate myself full-time to founding reign_wala, a commerce ecosystem in which the artisan can earn a more fair price for his/her handcrafted pieces.
How we work
- How do you find local artisans?
- Our founder travels to developing countries and spends hundreds of hours in marketplaces and small villages to identify artisans with amazing designs or artisans with amazing resources that we can partner with to co-design.
- Who designs the stuff?
- Our macrame designs are a collaboration between our artisans and our founder. In many cases, our artisan partners propose designs which we adjust or fine-tune to make them perfect for our customers. In some cases, our founder proposes designs which our artisan partners adjust in order to make them feasible to produce.
- Our silk collection is entirely designed by our founder and tailored by our artisan partners.
- How do you deliver the profits in cash?
- Our founder travels to our artisans’ home countries to complete the profit deliveries. Since some of our artisan partners are in remote villages, in some cases, our founder may deliver the lump sum profit to one artisan who distributes it to the broader team of artisans. In all cases, deliveries are documented on video.
- How much profit is shared with your artisan partners?
- Reign_wala practices fair trade by compensating our artisan partners with a generous rate for making each piece, regardless of whether or not that piece sells. On top of this, reign_wala operates a profit-sharing model, meaning we also share profits with our artisan partners after goods are sold.
- Which countries are your collections from?
- At present, all of our artisans are based in India. We are looking forward to expanding to other developing countries in the near future.
Always
High taste, low-waste
Reign_wala collections are made in small quantities with upcycled, local and sustainable materials. We don’t use mass-produced rolls of silk fabric or leather. That’s why almost every reign_wala piece is one-of-a-kind.
