An Online Apparel Startup Is Empowering Women in Corporate India

Bengaluru, India, March 6, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Background

Thread Turner started out in May 2014 as an effort to empower a tiny group of women artisans by making their work accessible to the world. Right from the start, this online apparel & fashion brand identified working women as its key audience, and it is around them that all the designs are centered – right from the colours, prints and down to the choice of fabric.

The saris, stoles, jackets and scarves that have been designed by Thread Turner, and worked on by the women artisans, are today the choice of many empowered women across the world.

Women Empowerment

It was on Women’s Day 2015 that the team met up and discussed the topic of Women Empowerment. Of the many facets discussed, there were 3 key things that came to the fore:

·         Across the world, and industries, women are poorly represented at top levels

·         Beyond a particular age and level in an organization, there is a trend of women dropping out of the workforce and not joining back

·         India is the world’s fastest growing economy

Taking the above into consideration, the team arrived at the conclusion that the need of the hour was for working women to be well-rounded global professionals.

The Inception

Keeping the need in focus, Team Thread Turner took stock of its inherent strengths.

There were seasoned creative professionals who were experts in the field of strategy and communication. There were people with years of experience in public speaking, soft skills development, and theatre. Among them, a founder of a Women Empowerment NGO, a makeover expert, and more.

Soon after, through mailers, surveys and face-to-face discussions, various members of the team interacted with a host of women professionals to gain insights into what could help them become global professionals. One of the key things that surfaced here was that there existed a strong need for work-life balance for the well-being of the working woman.

And so, after days of constructive rumination, The Power Makeover was born in June 2015.

The Power Makeover

The Power Makeover is an interactive program specially designed by Thread Turner to help working women – top/ middle management and aspiring young women professionals – be Global Professionals. Modelled on the best of strategy, communication and design, and employing techniques such as communication games, play acting, mind exercises and more, the program is spread over 5 sessions; which includes Soft Skills, Team Dynamics, Sense of Attire and more.

Since the time it was introduced, this initiative has received a very encouraging response from various corporates. Thread Turner being a startup based out of Bangalore, modules of the program have already been conducted for two leading IT MNCs in the city. This aside, Thread Turner has even addressed meetups that were attended by women professionals from Banking & Finance, Manufacturing, Design, Media and more.

At present, the team is in talks with leading corporates in IT and Banking & Finance, who have special women cells in place that value their women workforce, and who have consequently shown great interest in the program.

The Vision

Thread Turner aims at being the fashion choice of independent, enterprising and empowered women, while taking forward its initiative to better women representation at the top levels of organizations across the globe.