Impact report
The journey starts in India, with the artisans in our partner factories and the communities around our supply chain. Every order we place, every collection we launch translates into better opportunities and better livelihoods. We believe in trade, not aid. Focused on empowerment.
"The idea of trade and not aid stuck with me. Trade means opportunity, not charity. What if I create a product with real impact by connecting makers to the international fashion market"
The artisan your purchase supports
We carefully select producers who share our mission, actively drive positive change, and commit to transparency. By increasing our order volumes, we enable our partner factories in Kolkata to create more fair jobs and strengthen inclusive workplaces.
Our factories participate in training and independent worker surveys and ensure our living wage bonus is paid. Together, we work to improve working conditions, knowing that real change takes time. We are committed to the long game: creating opportunity, consistently and consciously.
our impact does not stop at the factory gates. our ambition is:
To positively influence 100,000 lives in India by 2030
In 2025 alone, we created at least 5,597 positive touchpoints. By the end of the year, that number reached 27,866, and continues to grow. For us, success is measured not only in the bags we sell, but in the lives we positively impact. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to, and how we track our progress. Here’s how we do it.
Every year we give back
1% of our revenue
giving back
Every year we give back 1% of our revenue in local projects in Kolkata focused mainly on women's empowerment and education. This Giving Back Program strengthens the communities surrounding our production locations, creating opportunity, access, and long-term change. Some highlights of those Giving Back projects are shown below.
2025 Giving Back division
Kolkata Mary Ward Social Centre
43%
Living wages, trainings, sanitary napkins
42%
future hope school
12%
naz foundation
3%
Women's Skill Development
kolkata mary ward social center
KMWSC runs projects on education, women and child protection, community cevelopment and skill development.
womens skill development
We sponsor vocational training for women in tailoring, fashion design, bakery and beautician work: practical skills that translate directly into income. Beyond technical training, KMWSC provides career counseling, interview preparation, parental engagement sessions, and workshops on menstrual health and therapy.
141 Women Enrolled
in Skill Development Programs
5 beauticians
started home businesses
4 women
found employment at beauty salons
4 fashion design students
secured jobs in production
3 graduates
opened their own salons
1 graduate
launched her own fashion house
Through training at the factories, we learned that for some women a lack of access to proper menstrual products was a reason to stay home from work.
Therefore, in 2024, through our Better Friday campaign, we raised funds to support menstrual health for women in our partner factories. In 2025, we began rolling out the program on a small scale, allowing us to test which products work best and how to provide them in a respectful and discreet way. At Springfield, 15 women are participating in the pilot, and at STC we started with one department of 52 women. The responses have been very positive. In 2026, we will expand the program, supplying all 165 women, ensuring support for at least the next two years.
67
women
received a three month supply
of sanitary pads as part of the pilot.
IN 2025
Step by step towards empowerment
We continued the Equal Opportunities Program in 2025, building on the pilot launched in 2024 at one of our partner factories. The program focuses on empowering women on the factory floor, while raising awareness among (male) employees and management about gender inequality. The training sessions have been meaningful and well received, contributing to increased awareness and dialogue within the factory.
At the same time, translating this into tangible change has proven challenging. Job opportunities for women within the factory remain limited, and many women are still hesitant to step into new roles. Positions are not always available, and efforts by our producer to recruit a female role model from outside the factory were not successful.
These challenges highlight the complexity of creating structural change. In 2026, we will take the next step by partnering with the WE-program to strengthen the initiative, moving from a pilot to a more structured approach with direct, on-the-ground support.
Learning as a foundation for change
Brickfield schools
O My Bag supports the Brickfiel Schools, which provide education to children. Each year, families from rural areas migrate to the brickfields near Kolkata for eight months to make bricks, leaving their children without access to education. Although child labor is banned, children work alongside their parents, as families are paid per brick. KMWSC launched these schools to ensure children can return to education, and to combat child labor, offering teacher salaries, materials, parental training, meals, and healthcare. We support five schools, each serving around 55 children with lessons in Hindi, English, math, and hygiene.
271
Children attended school
646
People received health checkups
Future hope school
This school provides education for vulnerable children and, when needed, safe residential homes that they own and operate. In 2025, through our Better Friday campaign, we raised funds for three urgently needed kitchen renovations: one at the school to ensure daily nutritious meals for children and staff, and two at residential homes where children live and receive care. The campaign was a great success, generating additional funds to further support the school’s nutrition budget.
550 children
and staff
Now benefit from the renewed
kitchen facilities
"Seeing the renewed kitchens in action was heartwarming: shiny new equipment, proud cooks, and tools like the dough maker and chapati puffer that save hours of work and strain on their hands."
alexandra, sustainability manager
lgbtqia+ support
50% of the revenue from the sales of our Rainbow Webbing Straps was donated to the Indian non-profit organisation Naz, which advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights and provides HIV testing, counseling, medical access, and support services. In 2026, our donation will be used to provide HPV vaccinations for queers from marginalized backgrounds.
Our living wages premium
Since 2021 we proudly contributed to paying a living wage to the artisans at our partner factories in India who bring our bags to life.
449 artisans
at our partner factories
in India received the
living wage premium
IN 2025
"In the fashion industry, Living Wages is something that lots of brands love to talk about and make excuses about how it’s hard and they cannot do this. We just get it done. We actively advocate for this, and we think the whole fashion industry should follow our lead."
Paulien, founder & CEO
Since 2021 we have provided
1764 premiums
closing the gap and contributing a total of
€72,041
Moving living wages forward in 2026
Since 2021, we have provided 1,764 Living Wage Premium payments to the artisans who make our bags, contributing a total of €72,041 towards closing the wage gap. We are proud to take responsibility where we can and to make the gap visible and tangible.
At the same time, we are clear that lasting change cannot rely on individual brands paying wage premiums indefinitely. Structural progress requires industry alignment and, ultimately, higher minimum wages at government level.
For now, we are the only buyer supporting this initiative at our partner factories. Rather than positioning this simply as a challenge, we see it as an opportunity to put living wages more firmly on the agenda. In 2026, we will take the next step by developing a roadmap outlining how living wages can move forward within our industry. This includes sharing our approach more openly, making the model easier to understand for other brands, and creating space for dialogue and learning. That is where we believe our role can have the most impact.
Keep reading
