25 years of CARE & FAIR
For the 25th anniversary of CARE & FAIR, Carpet! Magazine introduces some of the organisation’s important supporters and donors to our readers. This time we talk to Nani Marquina, the founder of Nanimarquina, a Spanish design rug brand based in Barcelona. Nanimarquina rugs are handcrafted in India, Pakistan, and Nepal.
Carpet! Magazine:
Nanimarquina is a specialist for handmade contemporary design rugs. How das Corporate Social Responsibility come into the picture in your business?
Nani Marquina:
Corporate Social Responsibility is not an easy topic for or company considering that we do not have our own factory, our strength is the design of the carpet and innovating through crafts. Sometimes we cannot have too much influence on the work processes of the Hindu companies which we work with. This is a recurring phenomenon for European companies that outsource their manufacturing to Asia. Our concern is how to compensate for these deficiencies of not being able to influence work processes. For this reason, we try to resolve our CSR policy through social solidarity with non-governmental organisations and maintain a strong strategy regarding sustainability in the production and edition of new products and designs.
Carpet! Magazine:
You have a long-term cooperation with the aid organisation CARE & FAIR. What convinced you to support this organisation?
Nani Marquina:
I got to know CARE & FAIR about 20 years ago at a fair and its work convinced me. But what convinced me the most was being able to visit them in Bhadohi and personally meet their board member and see the great work they were carrying out with few resources.
Carpet! Magazine:
In what ways have you been supporting CARE & FAIR and how has the cooperation influenced your business?
Nani Marquina:
We’ve been supporting CARE & FAIR through the launching of the rug Kala. Kala means “tomorrow” and “art” in Hindi and lends its name to a collection that unites Indian culture and design through the eyes of children, the future. The collection has been created from original drawings by the students of the CARE & FAIR charity schools in India, and EUR 150 of each rug sold is donated to the Amita school in Bhadohi, directed by the same organisation.
At the beginning the response was low, so we focused on sharing the project with all our clients in order to get more orders of Kala rugs and thus more donations for the project. Today, looking back to this decision, which was based on our personal wish to support a country that needed help, we find that we are very happy with the results. People are so much more conscious of what’s behind the products they buy, they really value transparency and CSR in a brand.
