IOWEYOU (Kavita Parmar) - SPAIN

“Kavita Parmar stumbled into the fashion industry right out of high school. While at university she worked in a research and product development company in Hongkong for clients like Ralph Lauren, Gap, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor etc. She started her own buying agency living in the far east during her 20s and went on to head the licensing of iconic children’s-wear brand OSHKOSH Bgosh in India. After selling that company she moved to Spain and started two women’s-wear brands based on artisanal craftsmanship, ‘Raasta’ and ‘Suzie Wong’, selling them in over 200 multi brand stores across the globe. In 2008 she opened her own iconic three story retail in ‘callejon de Jorge Juan’, at the heart of Madrid.

In 2010, convinced that transparency and traceability were the need of the hour she started the ‘IOU Project’. Each IOWEYOU piece came with a QR code that connected the user back to the artisan weaver and tailor who made the piece thus giving authorship and authentic provenance to the final consumer. The IOU Project documented and put online over 250 master craftspeople in Madras, India and was a pioneer in using technology to turn Supply Chains into Prosperity Chains. The IOWEYOU collection is to this day made with artisan communities across the globe and continues to be sold direct to consumer online or through hand-picked specialty retailers around the globe. 

She was awarded, for her work the UNSCC Leadership Award, Luxury Briefing Award for Innovation, SOURCE Award by Ethical Fashion Forum London, Sustainable Luxury Award in Latin America, NY Venture Fellow Program, Unreasonable at Sea Program, Levi´s Collaboratory Fellowship etc. 

A renowned speaker on topics such as heritage craft, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, innovation, transparency and traceability; Kavita also teaches design and entrepreneurship courses at various universities and has done consultant work for clients like NIKE, Levi’s, Ikea and many other medium and small sized projects.

In 2018 Kavita started XTANT. (The project whose website you are on now!)

Together with Marcella Echavarria she curated the first ever global gathering of 45 artisans from 23 countries in Mexico DF and called it TEXTO | 2020.

The huge success of this first gathering fueled the passion for the following half-decade of XTANT’s growth. Turning it into one of the leading global events dedicated to celebrating heritage textiles, their know-how, fiber crafts and regenerative practices.”

@kavitaparmar

www.xtant.io