“The design ideas flowed as did some truly amazing work relationships with the artisan communities”, Dui says. “Before I knew it, I had a label that had developed its own identity and truly celebrated colour, but equally as important, I had an Indian family – and some very precious and very loving aunties, uncles, brothers and sisters”.
Ethics
Ethical Work Practices
Ethical Work Practices
On discovering the wonderful artisan communities of Rajasthan, a wild rush of creativity bloomed and Dui knew this was a long-term relationship.
On discovering the wonderful artisan communities of Rajasthan, a wild rush of creativity bloomed and Dui knew this was a long-term relationship.
“The design ideas flowed as did some truly amazing work relationships with the artisan communities”, Dui says. “Before I knew it, I had a label that had developed its own identity and truly celebrated colour, but equally as important, I had an Indian family – and some very precious and very loving aunties, uncles, brothers and sisters”.
Over the last two decades, Boom Shankar has evolved into a prominent Australian fashion label, with a flagship boutique on the famous Hastings Street in Noosa Heads, a showroom at Noosaville, and distribution to more than 300 stockists throughout Australia. Dui designs each piece in Australia (including the custom made fabrics), and spends two to three months at a time in India working with fabric printers, pattern makers and craftsman assembling each season’s range. Despite Boom Shankar’s growth, Dui’s approach remains anchored in the same principles that motivated her early success: a sense of fun and adventure, a love of colour and design, a great respect for Indian culture and people, and a commitment to community.
Boom Shankar is committed to the ethical production of our garments, minimising environmental waste and ensuring fair labour conditions for all our workers in Australia and in India.
We believe in fair wages, safe working conditions, reasonable working hours and a discrimination-free workplace. We have strong relationships with our Indian factories and it is extremely important to Dui that all her staff are well looked after.
Our partners are 100% compliant with all health and safety requirements and receive fair work opportunities. Our factories have received a platinum certificate of compliance and have also received outstanding results from the Sedex members of Ethical Trade. The factories maintain all legally required environmental documents of compliance with related environmental regulation, and have conducted necessary air emission testing as required by law.
Boom Shankar is committed to the ethical production of our garments, minimising environmental waste and ensuring fair labour conditions for all our workers in Australia and in India.
We believe in fair wages, safe working conditions, reasonable working hours and a discrimination-free workplace. We have strong relationships with our Indian factories and it is extremely important to Dui that all her staff are well looked after.
Our partners are 100% compliant with all health and safety requirements and receive fair work opportunities. Our factories have received a platinum certificate of compliance and have also received outstanding results from the Sedex members of Ethical Trade. The factories maintain all legally required environmental documents of compliance with related environmental regulation, and have conducted necessary air emission testing as required by law.
“We’re committed to the ethical production of our garments, minimising environmental waste and ensuring fair labour conditions for all our workers in Australia and India. We believe in fair wages, safe working conditions, reasonable working hours and a discrimination-free workplace.”
It is extremely important to Dui that all her staff are well looked after, and their satisfaction in the workplace is an essential ingredient to her success and happiness.
Boom Shankar is very proud to be partnered with factories in India who hold the same values and ethics, helping communities in times of need. During COVID-19 two of the main factories in India assisted by distributing food, doing free medical checks, and donating an ambulance to their village. You can read more about the amazing work they did here.
With every visit back to India, Dui has rolled up her sleeves to spend endless hours working closely with traditional wood-block cutters and master pattern-makers.
With every visit back to India, Dui has rolled up her sleeves to spend endless hours working closely with traditional wood-block cutters and master pattern-makers.
“It gives me great joy sitting in with the block-printing artisans, listening to their stories while they hand stamp their magic to create our unique Boom Shankar fabric designs”
Wooden Block Printing is a traditional form of fabric design used in countries like India. It is known to be one of the earliest methods used to transfer prints onto fabrics.
It is a slow method due to the ‘by hand’ process. The unique process is a simple yet effective method which is capable of achieving a beautiful, artistic effect. These results are unobtainable by any other modern method. The printing blocks are all hand carved by a skilled craftsman from a piece of wood, between 2-3 inches thick. The fabric is then marked out using chalk as a starting guide, then the blocks are hand stamped onto the fabric. This stamping process is continued until the length of the fabric is covered. If the pattern contains more than one colour, the cloth is first printed with just the one colour, then dried and finally printed with the second; this same process is repeated for each additional colour.
The end result is a unique piece of fabric which can then be made into a beautiful garment. Due to the hand done nature of this process, each piece of fabric will have variations in colour and finish meaning each finished garment will be totally unique!
“It gives me great joy sitting in with the block-printing artisans, listening to their stories while they hand stamp their magic to create our unique Boom Shankar fabric designs,”
Wooden Block Printing is a traditional form of fabric design used in countries like India. It is known to be one of the earliest methods used to transfer prints onto fabrics.
It is a slow method due to the ‘by hand’ process. The unique process is a simple yet effective method which is capable of achieving a beautiful, artistic effect. These results are unobtainable by any other modern method. The printing blocks are all hand carved by a skilled craftsman from a piece of wood, between 2-3 inches thick. The fabric is then marked out using chalk as a starting guide, then the blocks are hand stamped onto the fabric. This stamping process is continued until the length of the fabric is covered. If the pattern contains more than one colour, the cloth is first printed with just the one colour, then dried and finally printed with the second; this same process is repeated for each additional colour.
The end result is a unique piece of fabric which can then be made into a beautiful garment. Due to the hand done nature of this process, each piece of fabric will have variations in colour and finish meaning each finished garment will be totally unique!
Over the last two decades, Boom Shankar has evolved into a prominent Australian fashion label, with a flagship boutique on the famous Hastings Street in Noosa Heads, a showroom at Noosaville, and distribution to more than 300 stockists throughout Australia. Dui designs each piece in Australia (including the custom made fabrics), and spends two to three months at a time in India working with fabric printers, pattern makers and craftsman assembling each season’s range. Despite Boom Shankar’s growth, Dui’s approach remains anchored in the same principles that motivated her early success: a sense of fun and adventure, a love of colour and design, a great respect for Indian culture and people, and a commitment to community.