Empowering our smiths is a constant goal at Kailash.
We’ve done it through pay structures, education and training and now we’re also hoping to provide a platform for our team to develop, bring to market and make knives of their own design. This has been a long time in the works and we’re hoping that it helps to foster an understanding of the the imaginative and theory side of the knifemaking process while rebuilding a relationship between maker and knife that has been largely absent from the more modern side of the industry. As a result, a blade in this section of the website will exclusively be made by the smith that designed it.
Going further than just the making, we hope to build a more holistic set of skills including basic market analysis, branding and pricing so that our team members can participate in more areas of the business and be equipped to flourish with any work they pursue outside of Kailash. As a result these blades have been named by the smiths and they’ve chosen their own maker’s rate as well as their commission as designer on top of that- hoping to strike that golden balance of a price that’s nicely profitable while still being competitive.
With more fulfilled and skilled workers we can expect to produce better knives at work and bring positive change back home to our family members and community.