Loloi Rugs introduces the greater GoodWeave®

Actively engaged in ethical production for decades, the Dallas-based rug company is now a licensed brand of GoodWeave®

Ethics and innovation are at the heart of Loloi Rugs and have been since the company was founded in 2004. Loloi Rugs reveals its Autumn 2020 rug collections as their inaugural release of handmade rugs made in compliance with GoodWeave® guidelines and within GoodWeave’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system. From the Autumn collection forward, all Loloi handmade rugs from India will be certified by GoodWeave® and bear the GoodWeave® label that guarantees rugs are made without child, forced, or bonded labour. 

Loloi’s marketing strapline—’the Greater GoodWeave’—cleverly captures the concept of ‘the greater good’ and related phrases ‘public good’ and ‘common good’. These concepts are not new, but they have even greater importance during times of global crisis. The concept of the greater good calls for global communities to unite in support of positive actions that protect people and allow all of earth’s inhabitants to enjoy a sustainable shared destiny that includes protection of our environmental ‘commons’. 

GoodWeave® is the leading global institution working to end child labor in global supply chains using a holistic approach to a market-based system. Founded in 1994 as a nonprofit by Kailash Satyarthi, joint awardee of The Nobel Peace Prize 2014 with the equally remarkable Malala Yousafzai for his endeavours to end ‘the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education’. The concept of the greater good is one of the founding principles of GoodWeave®.

The values of Loloi’s founder Amir Loloi drive the company; values his son, Steven, Senior Vice President of Sales for Loloi describes as ‘always trying to do the right thing’. Doing the right thing means recognition that all parts of their business rely on people, from the weavers in India to their customers in North America. Global trade is why an important aspect of GoodWeave® accreditation is supply chain transparency. Under the GoodWeave M&E system each supply and manufacturing step is ‘visible’ and can be traced back to the people who created or participated in that step. Loloi acknowledges traceability is important because their rugs are woven at ‘dozens of factories’ in India. 

Allied to monitoring and traceability of the manufacturing process is GoodWeave’s Child Friendly Communities initiative (CFC). Set up in areas prone to child labour or vulnerable to child exploitation, CFC creates ‘safe harbour’ education opportunities for children. CFC operates in rug weaving areas but also in textile producing areas. There are currently more than fifty CFCs throughout India.

Near future goals for GoodWeave® and Loloi will be to address worker issues at their Indian factories including discrimination, right to freedom of association, health and safety, hours, wages, benefits, and environmental impact. Conscious consumers are an increasingly large demographic. The ability to purchase innovative, beautiful, handmade rugs with a clean conscience is effortless if we look for Loloi and the GoodWeave® label.