Fair Artistry: Kindly Woven's Commitment to Artistic Equity

At Kindly Woven, our journey into a new model for the textile industry began with a straightforward yet profound principle: Fair Artistry. Put simply, Fair Artistry champions fairly compensating creatives for their contribution to the world. And while this may seem obvious, it’s not the current model.

For decades, the industry has been filled with some of the most talented creatives in the world, predominantly women, who not only were incredible artists, but had the unique skill set to turn that art into woven fabric. In an industry developed and run by mostly men, textile designers became some of the first women in the industry to hold positions of influence—brought in by their creativity. Yet, despite their invaluable contributions, they often found themselves overlooked and underpaid.

Does this seem eerily familiar? It’s a story that isn’t isolated to our industry. Or even to women.

Mid-century creatives in the music industry were often unfairly compensated, while their labels saw huge success. Until recent years, athletes (both student and professional) were unfairly compensated, while team owners saw massive paydays. Thankfully, things are starting to change, but there’s still work to be done in other industries.  

In textiles, this inequality has stood out the most to us in the way that creatives are paid verses the sales force that makes a commission off of selling their work. It’s not uncommon for a salesperson to make 6 to 10 times the salary of a designer, though the commission they make is off of the designer’s work.

Seem unfair? We think so too.

While we can’t criticize the industry for the way it has evolved over the last 200 years (and certainly, that is not our goal), we fully believe that when you know better, you do better. And we want to usher in a better way going forward.

How Kindly Woven Practices Fair Artistry

• We know that creatives make brands successful. Without them, we’d have only blank product to sell (talk about boring . . . )
• We value the passion and lifestyle commitments creatives make in order to pursue their highest work. We want to lift them up and allow them a platform to be seen, known, and heard
• We are championing a new pay structure for artists in our industry and want to shine a light on the unfair truth of how it’s been structured in the past—not as a way to criticize, but as a way to lead us all towards something better in the future
• We offer royalty structures for designers who contribute to our lines, for the life of the products
• We also offer an additional sales commission (on top of royalties) for designers who promote their own work (and the work of fellow artists) resulting in sales

To us, that just makes sense. And that’s what feels fair. It’s what feels kind.

We hope you’ll join us in our mission to ensure that creativity gets the recognition and compensation it deserves. Together, when we support these artists, we’re not just ensuring they get what’s rightfully theirs—we’re ensuring the world remains a vibrant and inspiring place.

Let’s keep weaving together a future that matters. Where Fair Artistry isn’t just a goal, but a new standard for businesses everywhere.