Sharkah Chakra - ecological jeans for life

Last month saw the launch of a new London-based denim company which specialises in handmade fairtrade jeans designed to last a lifetime. Sharkah Chakra (which is Hindu for 'hand made life') jeans will be available to buy online and in branches of Harvey Nichols from Thursday October 18 priced £195 and each pair comes with a handbook explaining every aspect of its production.

Sara Simmonds left her job as denim buyer for Harvey Nichols in January 2006 to set up Sharkah Chakra. With seven years experience in buying men's denim, the London-based business woman spent a month traveling around India to secure fairtrade suppliers and artisans. The process behind the manufacture of each pair is detailed on the website, and it is impressive to say the least. All the denim comes from handpicked fairtrade organic cotton sourced from Mali in West Africa. It is then taken to India where workers dye the cotton using natural indigo and dry the fabric under an Indian sky. It takes an average of a month for this dyeing process to be completed. Weaving takes place in south Indian villages on old school wooden looms - each pair takes approximately half a day to weave and red and white selvedge taping is hand woven into the ends of the cloth to prevent fraying. Three metres of fabric goes into each pair there are 6.5 million hand loomers working in rural India, which means that these people do not have to leave their native villages to seek employment.

Next the jeans are taken to Italy (the third and final continent involved in production) to be finished and laundered. The washes used are "simple and use the least harmful chemicals possible in order to be respectful to the environment and our pure loomstate cloth." They are finished off with rivets made from recycled gold (not sure if this is in itself ethically sourced) and the result is a pair of jeans designed to age with the wearer and be worn for life.

Currently, Sharkah Chakra offers three washes for women and one 'cigarette pant' straight fit, and three washes for men in a choice of a relaxed fit or a straight fit. The company recommends buying a size down as they do stretch with wear (there ain't no lycra or resins in these jeans to make them re-shape) and always washing inside out in a cool wash (unless you want them to shrink, in which case you need to wash at a higher temperature).

So while Sharkah Chakra production process takes involves three separate continents, the company says it offsets its carbon footprints via co2balance. UK delivery charges are quite pricey, £9.95 for regular, £14.95 for guaranteed next day delivery (orders must be received before 12noon and must be signed for).

Words: Marian Buckley

http://www.sharkahchakra.com/