In March of 2000 Sarah Takesh went on a jeep trek to the Northern Territories of Pakistan and saw the phenomenal impact created by the various projects of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). Takesh was deeply inspired to work in economic development and live in the region she had become so enamored of, but with no experience in the non-profit world, it had to be on her own terms -- as a designer and businessperson.

Having a particular soft spot for Afghans due to her own Iranian tribal ancestry, Takesh was planning on starting her handicrafts business in Peshawar, Pakistan where there was a very large number of Afghan refugees. Her essential belief is that war-ravaged and displaced people need straight financial assistance, in other words, MONEY IN THE FORM OF CASH, before anything else, to get them out of a repeated cycle of poverty and suffering.

9/11 made it possible to actually work inside of Afghanistan.

In exchange for the opportunity to make a sustainable living, feed themselves and their families, and acquire some rarely had peace of mind,  Sarah has developed a group of wonderfully loyal afghan women who stitch, embroider, bead, and knit beautiful clothing and accessories using age-old handicrafts techniques unique to Central Asia.

We work individually with each of the women that we employ to identify their unique strengths and handicrafts skills. Rosama, Marzia, Anise, Fatima, Karima, and dozens more….each has a unique tale and creativity that is distinctively expressed in the clothing that we produce.

Sarah's philosophy revolves around the following ideals:

To create beautiful garments that integrate, in a very modern fashion, the elaborate handicrafts talents of Afghan women, transcend the category? of common ethnochic fashions, and link East and West at a unique level of artistry.

To constantly pump money through the hands of a group of people who would otherwise have little or no access to income-earning due to poor education and low social standing.

To place proper monetary value on the demanding work of embroidery and compensate female embroiderers in ways that will win them higher status in their own families and communities.