Philosophy

It was MAKALU DESIGN’s prime target right from the start to cooperate only with rug manufacturers who are socially committed and pledge to renounce child labour and other types of human exploitation. Our aim, then and now, was to provide the furniture and interior design trade a representative choice of attractive and valuable rugs.
In May 1988, our first own manufacturing plant was opened in Kathmandu, Nepal, under Tibetan management.
The wishes of the enduser are always at the fore of our activities. With the help of a catalogue folder and the matching colour swatches, the enduser can choose his own theme and design and have it tailored exactly to his ideas or to suit a specific environment. We offer a selection of 300 colours; and personal designs – in as far as they are implementable – are becoming more and more popular, resulting in perfect handcrafted and unique items.

We are a member of STEP, an Organisiation, which campaigns for fair trade in hand-knotted carpets. What is Stepp doing?
Label STEP is committed to improving the working and living conditions of carpet weavers and fights abusive child labour. It also promotes environmentally friendly production methods.

To acheive these goals Label STEP is systematically monitoring the production sites of its licensees and their suppliers, and takes measures to ensure fair conditions. Label STEP operates at the local level in all major carpet-producing countries: in Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan and Turkey.

Label STEP was founded in 1995 by the development organisations Berne Declaration, Bread for All, Caritas Switzerland, Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund and Swissaid together with IGOT (Swiss Association for Clean Oriental Carpet Trade).