Advocacy & public positions
Thuli × DVAA is a small, design-led clothing brand built in close partnership with artisan studios in India and a home office in New Jersey. Our size means we can’t do everything, but we can be very clear about what we stand for: fair work, living craft traditions, and lower-impact fashion. This page explains how we use our voice and our resources.
Who we are, and how we show up
Thuli × DVAA (DVAA LLC, doing business as Thuli) works with a small network of weaving, dyeing, printing and tailoring partners across India, alongside our home office and fulfilment in New Jersey. We are members of the Nest Artisan Guild, a global community committed to ethical handcraft production and better standards for homeworkers and artisan businesses.
Our advocacy is rooted in the day-to-day realities of our partners: stable work, dignified income, safe working conditions, and respect for craft and culture. We also recognize our responsibility to reduce the environmental impact of the clothes we make and ship.
Our advocacy pillars
Craft & culture
We advocate for the preservation of traditional weaving, dyeing and handcraft techniques, and for the people who hold those skills.
- Championing artisan stories in our journal, product pages and social media.
- Preferring partnerships that keep heritage skills alive in artisan communities.
Fair work & income
We support fair pricing and long-term relationships instead of short-term, volume-driven production cycles.
- Working with small studios and cooperatives rather than anonymous factories.
- Planning collections around realistic lead times and artisan capacity.
Climate & materials
We favor low-impact processes, small batch runs and better packaging choices wherever our scale allows.
- Using handloom, hand-block printing and small-batch production to reduce waste.
- Enabling carbon-neutral shipping on ecommerce orders through Shopify Planet, which funds verified carbon removal projects.
Transparency & education
We believe small brands can still be clear and honest about their impact.
- Sharing where and how our pieces are made, and by whom.
- Publishing our impact report and this advocacy page for public review.
Supplier diversity & inclusive sourcing
We give procurement preference to suppliers owned or led by women, people of color, and members of underrepresented communities. Diversity of ownership is a weighted factor in our sourcing decisions alongside craft quality, ethical practices, and environmental standards.
- In FY2024, 63.6% of our COGS suppliers were women-led or from underrepresented communities.
- We track ownership diversity across all vendors and set formal annual targets — see our impact report for full metrics.
What we are doing today
- Maintaining direct relationships with a small group of weaving, printing and tailoring partners.
- Participating in the Nest Artisan Guild community to align with best practices in handcraft.
- Using storytelling to highlight artisan partners and the value of slow, intentional production.
- Offering carbon-neutral shipping on ecommerce orders via Shopify Planet.
- Building internal tracking for energy use, shipping emissions and packaging so we can improve over time.
- Tracking supplier ownership diversity and setting formal targets for inclusive sourcing.
Advocacy goals for a small brand, 2025–2026
Our capacity is limited, but we can set realistic, measurable goals that reflect our values. These targets are reviewed annually and updated in our impact reporting.
| Area | What we do now | 2025–2026 target | How we track it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artisan & community advocacy | Share stories about our artisan partners and highlight handcraft on social media and product pages. | Publish at least 4 story-driven posts per year that foreground artisan voices, working conditions or cultural context. | Annual count of advocacy-focused posts, archived in our impact reporting. |
| Supplier diversity & inclusive sourcing | 63.6% of COGS suppliers are women-led or from underrepresented communities. 55% are small-scale (under 50 employees). | Maintain 45%+ women-led / underrepresented-community ownership. Improve women artisan representation to 40%+. Maintain 50%+ small-scale supplier relationships. | COGS Vendor Log with diversity columns, reviewed annually and published on the impact report. |
| Nest Guild engagement | Member of the Nest Artisan Guild, aligned with its standards for ethical handcraft production. | Participate in at least one Nest learning or capacity-building offering per year and apply one improvement with a vendor. | Internal log of trainings attended and resulting process changes. |
| Climate & shipping | Carbon-neutral shipping on ecommerce orders through Shopify Planet. | Maintain carbon-neutral shipping for 100% of ecommerce orders, with an annual summary of tonnes of CO₂ removed or offset. | Shopify Planet dashboard data and annual impact summary. |
| Packaging & plastic reduction | Some packaging from origin partners still contains conventional plastic. | Move to at least 80% plastic-free primary packaging by the end of 2026, where safe and practical. | Percentage of orders shipped in plastic-free or low-impact packaging, documented annually. |
| Transparency & reporting | Publish an impact and sustainability overview on our website. | Release an updated annual impact note that links to this page and summarizes progress against these goals. | Publicly available web pages and archived reports. |
Artisan & community advocacy
What we do nowShare stories about our artisan partners and highlight handcraft on social media and product pages.2025–2026 targetPublish at least 4 story-driven posts per year that foreground artisan voices, working conditions or cultural context.How we track itAnnual count of advocacy-focused posts, archived in our impact reporting.Supplier diversity & inclusive sourcing
What we do now63.6% of COGS suppliers are women-led or from underrepresented communities. 55% are small-scale (under 50 employees).2025–2026 targetMaintain 45%+ women-led / underrepresented-community ownership. Improve women artisan representation to 40%+. Maintain 50%+ small-scale supplier relationships.How we track itCOGS Vendor Log with diversity columns, reviewed annually and published on the impact report.Nest Guild engagement
What we do nowMember of the Nest Artisan Guild, aligned with its standards for ethical handcraft production.2025–2026 targetParticipate in at least one Nest learning or capacity-building offering per year and apply one improvement with a vendor.How we track itInternal log of trainings attended and resulting process changes.Climate & shipping
What we do nowCarbon-neutral shipping on ecommerce orders through Shopify Planet.2025–2026 targetMaintain carbon-neutral shipping for 100% of ecommerce orders, with an annual summary of tonnes of CO₂ removed or offset.How we track itShopify Planet dashboard data and annual impact summary.Packaging & plastic reduction
What we do nowSome packaging from origin partners still contains conventional plastic.2025–2026 targetMove to at least 80% plastic-free primary packaging by the end of 2026, where safe and practical.How we track itPercentage of orders shipped in plastic-free or low-impact packaging, documented annually.Transparency & reporting
What we do nowPublish an impact and sustainability overview on our website.2025–2026 targetRelease an updated annual impact note that links to this page and summarizes progress against these goals.How we track itPublicly available web pages and archived reports.
Held to an outside standard
Thuli became a Certified B Corporation in May 2026. The commitments on this page are the ones we are measured against — not claims we grade ourselves on.
What we don’t do
Our advocacy is focused on industry practices, not politics. Thuli × DVAA does not engage in partisan campaigning, political donations, or lobbying for specific candidates or parties. When we speak publicly, we do so as a small business advocating for fairer, safer and more sustainable fashion supply chains.