Pettah Market

Colours, shapes, fruit, clothing, pool toys, scissors, pencils, fabrics, needles, rambutans, wool, thread, roti, people, carts, tuk tuks, noise, chaos, horns, mosque …. lively, dynamic and wonderfully inspirational …. Ahhh we love pettah markets

This is the colourful and exotic appeal of Sri Lanka’s famous Pettah markets, nowhere we’ve experienced feels quite so alive with human activity, so large and filled with oddities, you can literally buy anything with seemingly no order to the chaos … except for our beloved 2nd cross street for wacky fabrics, quirky buttons and unbelievably cute prints – from flowers to spaceships to umbrellas to apples - which cemented the way forward for our print based label, KissinCussin.

Hope you enjoy these intoxicating images xx

Talalla Production

So we thought we’d bring you up to date with a little insert on our lovely Talalla ladies and how very proud of them we are.

To paint the picture, manufacturing as we do is unique and wonderful but also defies all odds in an already stressful industry … arriving in a village for each production period with no prior contact, having to source primary needs such as workforce, sewing machines, someone to make lunch packets … as well as secondary interruptions to the schedule like frequent power cuts without notice and village parties, then there’s tractor hire and the village politics that we have to stay on the right side of … the list can go on and, to say challenging is a massive understatement.

Needless to say at this stage in our growth there are moments, at the height of stress, where we may think “it would be so much easier to use an established factory” then some of these pressures would be their concern not ours … but the reason we don’t, and what makes KissinCussin’s ethical ventures intensely worthwhile, is to see the beaming happy faces of the Talalla ladies whenever we arrive, to know that we are providing them with a much needed income - which in turn provides them with security and increased confidence - and what seems to be a happy, thriving industry, growing right in the heart of this unassuming little village on Sri Lanka’s Southern point.

We are very proud of the Talalla ladies, in 3 years they have grasped an absolute understanding of what we are about, from our tight production methods and quality control checks fit to the western standards of manufacture and an integral understanding of our style guide … but moreover they are so very respectful of what KissinCussin has been able to provide for them, and so in turn they manufacture each and every piece with love, care and pride for you … just another reason that explains why KissinCussin is completely ‘made with love’

Here are some happy moments in and around Talalla where we work …