Our Story

Rampant poverty, widening income inequalities, corrosive pollution, and an unabated pandemic marking the start of this decade have led to a challenging and poor economic and social outlook for millions of people in Pakistan. The impact of this, while somber for all, has been particularly tragic for the marginalized communities of the country and today, these groups are in dire need of help and sustaining hope.

To play our small role in fulfilling that need, and inspire purpose steeped in workable solutions, we have decided to pick up the baton and confront these challenges head-on. Welcome to ‘The Shamil Initiative’ the word itself signifying inclusion. With Shamil, our aim is to bring about a sustainable change for individual, institutional and societal betterment.

Amongst our goals is to create innovative ways to strengthen economic empowerment for disenfranchised communities. We plan to do this through developing products and services that will attempt to tackle and resolve key pressing civic issues like transport, healthcare, and waste management.

As we begin this journey, we want you to take a walk through of some of our undertakings and the riveting inspiring stories behind them.

“Aao Shamil ho!”

(Come Join Us)

Our Process

Cutting

All of our fabrics are a combination of deadstock, cut-waste, and textiles that, although high quality, were not seen as fit to be used in industrial production. Many of our designs are available in limited quantities because of the amount of fabric we are able to source, and we feel this adds to the specialness of each piece.

Our team cuts each product by hand to utilize every piece of fabric, making the most of textiles that are considered unusable by mass manufacturers. Wondering about scraps? We use scrap pieces to make some of our smallest products, such as scrap fabric keychains or mini pouches, to ensure the most minimal amount of waste.

Screen Printing

Each of our prints is hand-printed on our products using locally sourced screen printing materials. Our hand-painted designs use the same water-based textile inks—and each is created, one at a time, by our talented screen printer with hearing and speech disability.

Hand-Stitching

The screen printed pieces are hand-stitched by our experienced tailors that include single mothers and persons with disabilities. All of them are paid fair wages and are ensured safe, and ethical working space. You have them to thank for making your sustainable and eco-friendly bags durable and built to last!

Packaging

Wasteful packaging is a huge contributor to the environmental problems our planet is facing. We dispatch all of our products in hand printed packaging papers, printed by a screen printer with a disability, which is carefully wrapped and packaged for you with a handmade note. Every packaging paper is 100% recyclable and reusable.

Upcycling for a better future!

Every package of ours comes with a handwritten note on a handmade recycled paper. The paper is recycled using wastage paper, which is 100% biodegradable!
All of this enables us to minimize the waste that we are creating around us!

Meet Our Team

Currently 7 talented tailors and screen printers are employed at Shamil who make our beautiful eco-friendly, disability-inclusive, and gender-neutral prodcuts and see it through from fabric sourcing to production to shipping. They all earn fair wages and benefits, including a generous vacation package, and training opportunities. Team members are trained in many aspects of the production and have the opportunity to rise up into management positions - rather than staying stagnant in an assembly line style workflow.