An Occasional Series on Inspirational Internationalists:
It Really Takes a Village Nadya Shows How Community is the Ultimate Corporate Social Responsibility

Nadya intimately understands the now-popular expression, “It takes a village.” Her concept, though, may be somewhat more literal than contemporary definitions. She has been employing, nurturing and saving Balinese villages for roughly 25 years as she partners with them to produce hand-made garments for her clothing collections shown throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Originally from Chicago, Nadya first found herself in Bali by accident. While on her way to India, the Indonesian island was simply a stop-over on a long journey. She discovered the beauty of Ubud’s rice fields and the extraordinary craftsmanship of Balinese fabrics and hand-design techniques. She never left. And her original villagers haven’t stopped working for her.

In fact, she now employs several generations of families to use their traditional skills of batiking, painting, beading and hand-weaving to transform local materials into her contemporary and individualistic clothing designs, which are embraced by a largely Western clientele. She has also been trying to explain the benefits of her workers’ retirement plans, but even the 90-year olds do not want to stop working. With a smile, she translates from the Balinese the rationale of one of her elder workers, “It makes no sense to be paid to do nothing when I have great joy in doing something.” That kind of simple wisdom has transformed her approach to business.

For Nadya, integrity means that a corporation is dedicated to participating in human welfare. “I have created a private business, a public service and a human community — all without infringing on my ability to have a good life. Such goals are attainable, and they do not have to be a sacrifice.” She believes that true value can occur when a company is committed to social engagement, and for her, this has roots the most ancient of wisdom. Nadya asks, “Are you your brother’s keeper?” She simply says, “I am.” She began her business in a primitive area without electricity and never experienced any sense of lack. In fact, she received a great deal from her Balinese villagers — from unimaginable extended kindness to collaborative creative inspiration that enabled her to provide financial stability through an independent multinational corporation.

Bali, for Nadya, is a magical place; its beauty is a source of inspiration for her designs and its culture has taught her to think differently. “In Bali, people make daily offerings of art and beauty to the Gods,” she explains. “And they listen to the Gods for direction.” Her clothing pieces typically begin with an idea, an outline, and communication with her local artisans. Then, according to Nadya, “they go and create what they thought they heard!” The result, whether or not they are in sync with her original intensions, is always clothing meant to “dazzle the Gods.” Each jacket, blouse or shawl is unique as it is made by hand. Mass production is not in harmony with the Balinese spirit.

In fact, hand-sewing projects have enabled Nadya to keep more people employed without having to invest in additional equipment expenditures. The hand work also creates a higher quality product, given the exquisite artistic detailing. She has numerous stories of how she manages to hire those who need work. At one point, she employed a local group of transvestites, who no longer wanted to support themselves in the sex trade, spawned by the tourist industry. They threw themselves into intricate sewn detailing so that they could stay off the street. And during some of Indonesia’s more turbulent times, her work has provided young Balinese girls and boys an alternative when prostitution may have been the only option for helping to support an extended family.

Nadya welcomes villagers who have the courage to inquire about a job. She suggests that they spend a day at her facility, and then she asks what they think needs to be improved. Sometimes it is organizing fabrics or cooking for the workers or cleaning up the workspace. Whatever they suggest is where they start. The majority work out and go on to grow with the company — if they can embrace the spirit of a multi-generational family of workers.

Although Nadya creates and manufactures clothing, she is quick to assert that her business “is not as much about the clothing, as it is about the community and communication that flows from it.” Given the distinctiveness of the hand-made artistry, her garments are simultaneously recognizable and approachable. They are about contact — whether someone wants to touch the fabric or start a conversation about the piece.

For Nadya, the world needs to be a smaller place through community. She now recognizes how life in her home country, the U.S., seems alienated. People don’t realize how little contact they have with each other as they opt for greater privacy rather than involvement. And people are defining themselves by lifestyle, rather than by experience.

Her shows certainly create community. She invites 14,000 loyal customers several times a year to hotel suites in U.S. and European cities. The events have been described as “mad markets” where people try and buy the clothing, but also as “salons” where they talk about their lives, have reunions and build new contacts. It may be the only place where an attorney and fashion model are on the same invitation list and wind up chatting together about which jacket they’ll choose. Nadya acknowledges that people are certainly influenced by each other when they meet half-naked in a hotel room, and the scene gets personal very quickly.

Like her villagers, Nadya’s customers are also multi-generational, and they range in age from 14 to 90. Many are in the film, TV, and theater businesses, while numerous individuals are actors, writers and editors. All of them, according to Nadya, “are interested in communicating with the world around them." At one point she did sell her collection to Bergdorf Goodman in New York, but decided that she preferred working with her clients directly. “I love the spontaneous input,” Nadya says. “People make suggestions all the time, and they are helping me evolve the designs.”
So what’s next for Nadya?

In a world where so many popular fashion lines project a feeling of sameness and safety, a number of more adventurous designers are experimenting with Nadya and her villagers. They are working with her to create elite, “custom” collections that involve individually-created, handcrafted work that accentuates their basic designs. This will enable Nadya to expand her operation to neighboring villages. And she is traveling to other parts of the world — from Bhutan to Zanzibar — where she can buy distinctive, locally-produced, traditional fabrics to incorporate into her own designs.
She is also helping companies, individuals and charities learn to emulate her village system. Given that her workers thrive on creativity as well as community, she believes that her experience need not only be applied to exotic locales. She is confident that the same principles can work in the inner cities where projects as simple as encouraging classes of children to painting cloth can build personal communications and healthy expression.
Nadya is not the only one thinking along these terms. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, through his work with the Clinton Foundation, has also understood the importance of villages as core social communities. Interestingly, both Nadya and I attended a benefit at the Asia Society which included a keynote address by Bill Clinton, which highlighted an uncanny parallel to Nadya’s work. It took place during the year that The Internationalist was founded, and we quoted the President Clinton as saying, “Globalization is more than military and economic strength. It is interdependence that results in stronger bonds of community.” We also reported on a little story that the former President shared at that event. It follows here:

While about to depart from a recent trip to West Africa, President Clinton noticed an enthusiastic well-wisher, frantic to attract his attention as he boarded his plane. He stopped, encouraged the person to approach, and found himself facing a woman with a package under her arm. “President Clinton, you forgot your shirt.”

When she saw his puzzled expression (and some raised eyebrows among his staff), she explained, “The aid your foundation provided enabled our village to create a shirt factory. Dozens of women are now working there. It has changed
our lives.”
This is a woman, Clinton said, who now feels good about the West, understands the value of work and wages, and will instill those principles in her children. She’ll increasingly see the importance of extended education for them, and chances are, despite the overall conditions of the area, her children will not be raised as potential terrorists, but as contributors to our world.

He keeps that shirt in a place in his home where he can see it every day. “We can’t just stop bad things from happening,” Clinton said. “We must make good things happen.”

Sometimes it simply takes a shirt to do so. And nobody knows that better than Nadya.

Contact: nadya@nadya.com