Meet the Maker: Puru 🇳🇵

Nestled high above the city on the outskirts of Kathmandu you will find Puru and his family’s new wool factory. The beautiful site sits between a mushroom farm and a sprawling view of the Kathmandu Valley to the south, and the base of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park to the north. The fresh mountain air and birdsong are a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the city, and their factory is full of colorful wool fibers, natural sunlight, and cheerful faces. Happy employees and healthy work conditions are spun into the fibers of all of their beautiful handmade wool garments, resulting in products that look good and empower the local community.

Born and raised in Kathmandu, Purushottam, or Puru, is a family man, an avid reader, a naturalist, and a spiritual practitioner. As a lover of both words and birds, the natural setting of their new factory is the perfect place for his ever growing family, his family business, his expanding library, his newfound hobby of wild bird photography, and his ongoing spiritual practice.

After graduating with a degree in English literature, Puru was invited to join the wool trade by his brother-in-law who started the business. Fast forward 15 years and now Puru is the production manager, his brother Subodh is the marketing director, and his sister Bandana and brother in law Diwakar are the directors. Not only do they run the company together, but their families also live and raise their children together in the close-knit community that they have created. 

Puru’s favorite Mexicali products are the new Bheda Mexicali Wool Hoodie Jacket and all of the colorful wool hats handmade in their facotyr. “These products are either hand loomed or handmade. So, these are special products. There is the direct touch of many people in any one product.” We agree that what makes these products special is the story that is spun into every one.

Each product is designed, crafted, and created with love. All of the raw wool is shorn by certified cruelty-free shearers in New Zealand before it is shipped to Nepal. Next, the wool is sorted and spun, while masters create designs at their factory. Then the wool is brought to to the homes of hundreds of local women in the surrounding community. These women are able to choose their own hours in which to knit the wool into the beautiful patterns and decorative details that you see in our stores.The products are then returned to the factory for fleece lining, finishing, and quality control. The whole process is a labor of love that positively impacts the local community on various levels, and the result is a quality and attention to detail that you can see in every stitch if you look close enough. 

All of their employees live in the surrounding community, and Puru’s family business supports 35 skilled makers, 200 knitters, as well as countless other individuals along the supply chain. Locally, their business positively affects women who are able to work flexible hours and earn money from home while taking care of their families. This allows these women to gain financial independence that would be otherwise unattainable in conventional employment. All of their employees are paid fair wages in happy and healthy work environments, and the financial freedom that their jobs provide them in turn positively benefits the local community. The impact that is harder to calculate, the happiness of the employees, can be seen and felt, and we know that this positivity energetically resonates through the community as well.