Team Travels. India. In the words of David Keyte...

“Going to India for most people is an adventure; a vacation with culture, history, food and excitement. For myself as the Designer and our production team, it is ALL work: we normally see the inside of a factory, a few fabric suppliers' showrooms and the same hotel a few miles from the maker we use. It is five or six days of early starts and long days, basically hotel–factory-hotel, repeat! 
 
This trip—at least my 50th to Delhi—was different for many reasons. For the Production Manager and myself, it was business as usual, but we had two members of the team who had not been before, and I was adding a trip to see a possible new supplier in Chennai.

Our team continues to grow, and with this, we have new members of our team who work with our Indian suppliers a lot, so it was important that they visited and met the team there. We value the relationships we have with our makers, and it's important that it's not just me who visits and understands them.  
 
For a first-time trip, we felt it was important that if our new team members were going this far, they should have some time to see something of India—not just our regular hotel-factory-hotel repeat. So, the team in India organised a trip for them to see the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, a drive away in the city of Agra. Hopefully something to remember for life!

For me, the weekend was not a Taj Mahal experience but a visit to Chennai to see hand-loomed Madras fabric being made. They were making garments for many of our contemporaries, like RL, Supreme, and Bode. An excellent small family factory with a truly inspiring ethical side to their endeavours, really helping the local community. And while my trip was meant to be all work, the owner of the factory took it upon himself to show me the culture and history of Chennai. I went to one of the biggest Hindu temples in southern India, full of devotees, pilgrims and cows! I went to the opening of a contemporary art gallery full of stylish, super cool young artists and their crews; to huge beaches full of humble fishing boats; to the university building and a beautiful British library, straight from a Harry Potter film, if sadly run down to the point of falling down! And just to round off a crazy two days, I met the USA wheelchair basketball team in Chennai on a tour of display matches across India!

Back to Delhi and back to the hotel-factory-hotel-repeat. This was, I think, another positive and successful trip, ensuring all production elements were in place for next summer, that this winter’s next instalment was in work, and the sampling process for winter next year had begun. 
 
The whole team got through all the necessary work, established some more understanding of their colleagues in India, and I hope they enjoyed a great trip, as well as for me, meeting some possible new friends and suppliers.”