I hope you are all well and safe, the latter a privilege these days looking at what’s going on in the world. Things are falling apart (coincidentally the title of the book I am currently reading by Chinua Achebe), and it’s overwhelming. Upon discussing this with someone, they told me “It might be the opportunity to rebuild things better”. Let’s hope it is. The past weeks in Sumba, since combing back from Nepal, have been packed! Packed with projects, events, books, writing, working and most over joy. All these separate things came down to the same idea: think globally act locally.

The second time this newsletter travels to Karaja, it comes with a focus on natural dyes. In the first edition (you can read it [here] if you haven’t already), I reflected on an interesting report by Fashion Revolution India, exploring how craft can be a climate-positive solution. In line with that approach, I wanted to dive deeper into the power of natural dyes, especially in an age where chemical ones have become the norm.

This week we are celebrating Fashion Revolution Week, which each year happens around the 24th of April. Why? In 2013 on that exact date Rana Plaza, a garment factory in Bangladesh, collapsed and 1134 garment workers died. The NGO was founded after the incident to transform the fashion industry for the better. The theme this year is “Think Globally, Act Locally”, perfectly in line with what we are trying to do with the local upcycling hubs, hopefully one day creating a global network.

I am happy to be starting a new “destination” within my Greeting from newsletters: Karaja. The project and my work related to it takes up so much of my time (which I don’t mind at all), I feel it’s worth sharing. Not just the hub in Sumba, but my overarching work on garment durability and how it can be a way to move towards a just circular transition.