Anchal's Organic Cotton Face Masks are sustainably made using up-cycled fabric scraps. Promoting a zero-waste initiative, the once larger fabric was hand-embroidered by our artisans in India and then cut and sewn into masks by our team in Louisville, KY. All masks are reusable and adjustable. These masks are pre-washed, sanitized using an industrial steam iron, and then placed into sealed bags by a gloved and masked employee. Please note that all masks are final sale due to hygienic reasons, and no returns or exchanges will be granted.
These are not medical grade masks or N95s but they do follow the CDC's recommendations for cloth face coverings.
With backgrounds in design, sisters Colleen and Maggie Clines lead the organization by placing design and collaboration at the center of Anchal’s practice.
It all started in a design studio. Colleen Clines was taking a graduate seminar at the Rhode Island School of Design that took her on a trip to India in 2009. Through local leadership, Colleen was introduced to the exploitive world of the commercial sex trade and the lack of opportunity for women in the community. It was in this moment she was inspired to design more than beautiful landscapes, she was determined to collaborate with the NGO using design.
“We felt compelled to take the project beyond the classroom with the conviction that our design training, in collaboration with local leadership, could address seemingly intractable social and environmental systems. The women we met became our sisters, sisters we had to fight for.” - Colleen Clines, Co-Founder & CEO