Who Made Your Clothes?

 

Our directory of the wonderful tailors at Ismail's factory

Who Made Your Clothes? At Brothers Collection, Ismail's factory in India, each tailor has a number that they sew into all our dungarees (this was originally for Quality Control purposes so Ismail could keep track on who's made what - tailors don't get pay deductions for pieces that have mistakes as is the case in some factories, but instead get bonuses for high quality work and lack of mistakes) If you check inside the ankle or near the waist of your Originals, Limited Editions, Umi, Luna or Easton dungas, Eddie Boilersuit, Alexas or Taupos or by the hem of your Mini Pini or Freyja dress, you'll find a little label with number on it - check below to see who made your piece from start to finish, and a little bit about them! 

The garments are 'handmade' which means that each tailor sews each piece of clothing from start to finish, giving them greater variation in their work and more pride in each individual piece, compared to a production line way of working. The most labour intensive garment is our Eddie Boilersuit, which takes around 4 hours to create, with even the coconut buttons being hand sewn on.

Since setting up his factory around 3.5 years ago, Ismail has grown his team from just 3 to around 90! He pays his workers around 3-4 times times the minimum wage, and always ensures a safe and clean working environment. Read more about his wonderful factory and the way he works here and more about 'Fair Pay' here.

This is a growing list and we have lots of lovely faces still to add - some tailors weren't in on the days we took the photos and Covid has meant we've held off getting any further ones for now!

And what if you can't find a number on your item? Our Atlas dungarees, all denim and a few other products are made by some of our other suppliers, which you can find more information about under 'What Matters To Us'. We will be working on getting a directory for them all eventually! 

 

Anita is 20, and works at the factory with her sister Guddi (Tailor 3)
Their father passed away 10 years ago, so their mother had the sole responsibility of bringing up 6 children. 
Anita couldn’t got to school because of their financial issues, she used to do some stitching from home, then joined Ismail around 2 years ago. 
Her and her sister are now independent and they are able to support their family, and their siblings are able to go to school. Anita is quite shy and loves to eat Gol Gappa (an Indian snack).

 

 

Raju has been working with Ismail for almost 3 years. He was one of the first people that Ismail hired when he opened the factory and says Ismail looks after him as his younger brother.

He's definitely the joker of the group, he's always laughing! 

He lives with his parents, siblings, wife and two daughters (4 and 2 years old). He and his younger brother provide for the entire family. Raju loves to watch Hindi TV series with his mother. Right now he's making some masks for his friends and family to keep himself busy during lockdown.

 

Guddi is 18 and Anita's sister.

She studied until middle school, before having to earn money to look after her family.

She joined Ismail's team as an apprentice, she sat with her sister Anita to learn for the first 6 months until she had built up her confidence.

Guddi says she feels proud that she can provide her mother with the best medicines when she's ill.

Guddi is fun loving and loves pizza!

 

This is Sultan, the unofficial Union Rep, who people come to with any issues.

He won't do anything that he doesn't like doing, he complains a lot - but everyone loves him!

He lives near the factory and has 5 kids. He lives with his parents and is the soul earner of his family. He was struggling to feed all his family members before he joined Ismail, but now he's happy and has spare time where he loves to be with his family and friends!

 

Sonu is Ismail's nephew. He's 17 and is training to be a tailor.

He's been known to tape his phone to his sewing machine so he could watch the cricket while sewing! Genius!

 

Bhagwan is the 2nd fastest tailor, after his brother Kalu!

They compete for the top spot every month, but Kalu always wins!

He is lives with his mother, wife and their two kids. In India, Bhagwan means “God” - our production manager always teases him that he needs to be happy all the time as the entire world is dependent on his mood!

 

 

Ghotya's aspirations are to support her family completely.
Her husband (DP - Tailor 21) has worked for Ismail for the past 2 years and they have three kids together. She was a housewife initially and later on she started coming to the factory for couple of hours so that she could earn some money for her daily livings.
She decided to take up training for stitching. After 6 months, she was making our Original Dungarees. She feels very happy and content now as she's helping her husband to support their children financially, the way she wants. She is proud to be giving them a proper education. Working for L&Y changed a lot for Ghotya; her in-laws give her more respect now and take care of her children when they both are at work. 

 

Subhan is from Bihar in East India and has been working with Ismail for almost 2 years. 
He is a very happy-go-lucky man! He is married with two lovely children. He manages to travel back to Bihar every 5 months to see his family.

 

 
Ram is from Tillora village and lives with his parents, his wife and their 16 month old daughter. He loves to listen to music - he always has his earphones in while he's stitching away!

 

Dhanraj is 27, he trained with Ismail to become a tailor years ago, then came to work for him when Ismail opened his own factory. He lives with his parents, brother, sister, wife and has a 5 month old son. He is a big fan of the PUBG video game.

 

 

He is from another state, Uttar Pradesh. He is living with his parents & siblings. His father is a plumber and his younger brother also works in Rajasthan for an embroidery company. He is unmarried but wants to get married once his 3 sisters are married and settled. 

 

  

 Juned is from Bihar in East India, he came to Tillora village to work - his family is back home, his wife lives with his parents and one year old son. Ismail has provided them lodging and food.

 

 

DP is married to Ghotya, he's one of Ismail's oldest friends, and was one of the two tailors working with Ismail at the very beginning!

Chris & Lucy spent a lot of weekends in the early days in New Delhi with Ismail & DP at the huge fabric markets! 

He's from Tilora village and has three kids who are studying in the school. He helps a lot with household chores and loves to help his kids with their homework.

 

 

 Todarmal lives with his parents and wife around 25km away from the factory and travels in everyday for work. His wife stitches from home for their local market. He loves a chat with his pals and aspires to build a home for his parents.

 

Kalu is our top tailor - he always makes the most pieces every month! He's like lightning on the machine and never makes any mistakes!

He loves to keep up to date with all Indian news. He has three boys at home who he loves playing Ludo with, and he spends all his spare time with his family. He has made his own house in the village and is very happy.

 

 

 

 

Shivpujan is from Bihar but now lives in the Tillora village with his family - he is married and has two children. He's very happy with his job and his progression at Ismail’s factory. He's now building his own 2 bedroom house in the village and is also studying in a school in Rajasthan.

 

 

 

Vinod is from Tillora and lives with his wife and parents. His goal is to build a home for his parents & family. He wanted to say that he has seen his living standard improve since joining Ismail's team and he's very grateful.

Suresh is living with his parents, brother, wife and three kids who are studying in school. He has his own house & has a big family to support. He loves a chat and watching Bollywood movies with his family.

Taj was in one of the the first groups of tailors and has been working at the factory for about 2.5 years now!

Mohammad Hasan Alam is from Bihar and joined Ismail’s factory very recently. He is unmarried and has one older brother who works in Wapi, Maharshtra, which is South of Rajasthan. He enjoys music and keeps everyone entertained by humming and singing while they work! Family is important to him and he makes sure he video calls his mother everyday.

 

Yusuf hometown is 40km away from the factory, but he rents a house for his parents, siblings and 4 year old son near the factory to minimise commuting time. Him and his brother support the family, as his parents don't work - his brother works for a marble company, which is quarried typically in Northern India.

Musir is from Uttar Pradesh, which is in Northern India. He's very content and happy, he has four daughters and a son, who are all are grown up - two are married and he's on the look out for suitable matches for the others. He doesn't mind working fairly far from home as the money is good and he wants to give good life to his family.

Rafik’s home town is Bihar in East India, but he lives in Tillora village with his parents, wife and two kids. His favourite thing to do is play with his children in the fields near their house.

His son has just turned 2 yrs old & is very cute; every morning he wants to go to the factory with Rafik! As Ismail’s factory is just 4 kms away, he tries to go home for lunch so he can see him!

Samim is from Bihar in East India, and came to Tillora village in search of sewing work. He has his own farm where his father and wife work back in Bihar and he travels back to see them every few months, along with his two kids who are studying. Tailoring is his passion and he loves to make our Frankie boilersuits as they're the most challenging thing to make. A proper pro!

 

Mahendra is from Tillora village. He's married and lives with his parents & sister. To chill out he likes to watch TV and spend time with his old parents.

Guddi
Guddi belonged to a good and rich family of Tillora village (the place we named our trousers after!) She lost her husband two years back, they spent all their money on treatment but he couldn’t survive. After her husband passed away, she was sent back to her mothers house with her two boys (14 and 11).
Guddi refused to take help from her parents and started looking for a job. Ismail helped her and offered her a position in thread cutting as she was not skilled. Guddi was broken financially and emotionally when she same to look for work. After a couple of months, she developed an interest in stitching so she approached Ismail, he offered her training to start making our tote bags from offcut fabrics. She is skilled now and makes all the bags for L&Y - she is earning well and is happy.
In India (specially smaller towns), you are not supposed to wear colours when you loose your husband. But see how happy and vibrant she is - she loves colour & especially L&Y’s funky colours. Whenever she is low, she loves to talk to her peers.  

 

 

  Pinky

Pinky, our selfie queen, is a fun loving lady and is always smiling (except when looking serious for photos!).
She is married and has two kids who are studying in junior school. Pinky started working with Ismail 2 years back, when she got herself trained on the bartack machine, and is now working as an operator. Before that she used to work from home for the local market.
Her husband is working as a line supervisor in the same factory, so they both come together and leave together. She loves to dress up and cooking is her hobby.