Columbus Circle Holiday Market
The Columbus Circle Holiday Market has always been on my list. Finally I dropped by last week to say hello to my favorite socially conscious enterprise – eight thousand miles.
This lovely store is the brain child of born in Bombay- worked in NYC- travelled the world architect-mom Shweyta Mudgal. In this tiny ode to free spirits, traditional Indian block prints jostle for space with fun animal prints. Vibrant colours are mixed and matched with black and whites. Each print is handpicked by Shweyta. Some of these unique prints are specially designed by her for eight thousand miles. Equal love is put into selection of fabrics, all of which are pre-washed and pre-shrunk.
Eight Thousand Miles, it’s as social as it gets
Eight thousand miles partners with the tailoring section of Aadhar Skill Development Trust (ASDT) in semi-urban India to bring their (eight thousand miles) wonderful creations to life. ASDT trains women from the lesser privileged sections of society in the fields of tailoring, montessori education, beauty services and manufacturing food-products, to make them self – reliant and economically independent. When eight thousand miles met the women at Aadhar, they were stitching very basic clothes like sari blouses. Working on eight thousand miles designs, often with guidance from eight thousand miles has considerable increased their skill set and confidence levels. To meet the ever increasing workload from eight thousand miles, ASDT has had to employ additional women. Tailoring has gone from being a source of side income for these women to a steady secondary source of income for their families.
So drop by at Booth B25 and pick up some unusual holiday wears (pun totally intended), and while you are there don’t forget to check out the stall opposite and the one right next door to eight thousand miles. You are sure to find some interesting gifts. In other corners of the market you can find vegan ivory and living (plant) jewelry.Make your gifts special. This holiday market,as the name says, is at Columbus Circle. You will see it as soon as you step out of the 59th street subway station. The red and white canopies are hard to miss.
Hurry up!! Ho!Ho!Ho!
Half the Story 