Heritage textiles have never been more visible or more widely imitated. In this five-part series, women leading craft enterprises across southern and central India — from a Kalamkari collective to a Himroo revival, from ikat and kantha to a global artisan incubator — weigh whether the growing appetite for handmade cloth is reaching the people whose hands produce it.

This five-part Spotlight edition examines how a UN initiative to define “textile waste” has divided the global circular economy. Drawing on evidence from Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan, and global recyclers, the series reveals how sustainability policy, donor influence, and contested data are reshaping trade, livelihoods, and legitimacy in the worldwide second-hand clothing market.

As the continent’s biggest sourcing event opens in Addis Ababa later this week, the conversation around Africa’s textile future gains renewed urgency. Ethiopia, with its young workforce and expanding industrial base, remains both a test case and a symbol—of ambition, resilience, and uneven progress. From cotton growers and factory workers to innovators and trade organisers, the stories here trace a country learning to stitch opportunity into identity. This texfash.com series explores how Ethiopia’s journey reflects a wider African drive to shape its own fashion and sourcing destiny.