Fair Trade, hand-woven rug label Armadillo&Co has achieved a business milestone reaching five years in operation and plans to celebrate with a charity auction and exhibition.
Held at Mary Place in Paddington, the exhibition will run next month from May 8 to 10, kicking off with an invite only party and silent auction selling small woven artworks based on collages by children from The Anganwadi Project, which was founded by Armadillo&Co co-founder, Jodie Fried, in 2005 and has helped bring education and healthcare to children living in the urban slums of Gujarat in India.
“A party really isn’t a party without a bit of fun and it made perfect sense to get the children involved from The Anganwadi Project schools in the urban slums of India,” says Fried. “We did a collage art workshop with the children and then created weavings from their drawings which were then hand woven by our artisan weavers. We figured it was a great way to get all our favourite people and our favourite things all in one room. One hundred per cent of the proceeds go to this great cause and we hope that people enjoy being a part of it as much as we do.”
Looking back on the past five years Fried and fellow Armadillo&Co co-founder Sally Pottharst say their achievement is thanks to the people they’ve worked with and the relationships they’ve formed.
“We truly couldn’t have done this alone,” explains Pottharst. “The key to being able to reach this milestone is all about having great people around you. People who can help grow our ideas, our business and vision, which we would never have had the capacity or skill to do on our own.
“I also believe we have always stayed true to our vision and listened to our instinct. We have never tried to follow trends or create a product which we were not comfortable with.”
The duo’s highlights include providing employment for hundreds weavers and their families in India and bringing awareness to ethical consumerism as well as seeing loyal fans use their rugs.
Moving forward Armadillo&Co is hoping to expand its international presence and work on some exciting collaborations.
