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The Loyal Workshop X Paper Rain Project - Stay True T-Shirt


“What’s the story behind the Stay True T-Shirt?” I hear you ask.

Well, we’ve known Wills and Indigo, the founders of The Paper Rain Project, for a while now. In fact, The Paper Rain Project was the very first brick and mortar retailer to stock our products way back in 2014, so our relationship dates back to Loyal’s early, early days.

In short, we love the way these guys run their business. Wills and Indigo seek to know each and every detail behind the supply chain of the products they sell. They run their enterprise with transparency and seek to do the best for both people and the planet. The products they sell are not only ethically made but are incredibly cool too – what’s more awesome than long boards painted by local artists and lovingly crafted from recycled wine barrels?! Not much!

How does the Paper Rain Project work with Loyal?

Our relationship with The Paper Rain Project is so much more than your average supplier-retailer partnership. Both Wills and Indigo made the trip over from Picton, New Zealand to visit us at our workshop in Kolkata back in 2018. They wanted to come visit us because of our friendship and also because they’re interested in knowing for themselves the ‘how’ and ‘who’ behind the items that they promote and sell. During that visit Wills and Indigo drank delicious cups of cha with us,  saw our products being laser-cut and hand-stitched, and they even spent time celebrating International Women’s Day with our artisans.

When Covid-19 hit globally and the both the physical and economic effects of the virus were becoming apparent, we (Joel and Sarah from The Loyal Workshop) put our heads together to discuss what we could do to help both our neighbourhood in Kolkata and the retailers around the world who stock our products. With our workshop being locked down for four months, we soon realised that our plans to release new leather products in 2020 would have to be put on hold. Understandably, focusing on the wellbeing of the Loyal artisans and their neighbourhoods became a priority during this time, as well as partnering with retailers in some small, extra-way to ensure they could continue trading.

We decided to partner with The Paper Rain Project to ensure that our Loyal supporters would have something tangible and beautiful to purchase this year in-lieu of no new product releases. The Stay True t-shirt was designed by Matthew Watson and Jacob Bang who were given a brief to design “the most Kolkata-y t-shirt possible!” We knew this shirt would help support the city in a small way and so wanted to tell some of its story in the design. If you know then you know… Anyone who has had the privilege of visiting Kolkata may recognise the yellow taxi, the pot of rosogolla mishti, or the portrait of Mother Teresa.

We are stoked that $10 from each Stay True t-shirt sale will go towards the Covid Relief Fund we have been operating for our community in Kolkata. The rest of the profits will go to The Paper Rain Project, local retailers doing the best they can to support initiatives like ours and push for a more just and ethical marketplace. We reckon these are two pretty cool ways to spend your money this Christmas!

Buy now from The Paper Rain Project’s website.