Ivana Darmawan, founder of Kasih Co-op. Photo: UCLA Alumni.
Some news we're proud to share: UCLA Alumni featured our founder, Ivana Darmawan ('05, MBA '09), in its Class Notes this week. The note highlights what Kasih Co-op has become, an ethical batik accessories brand made with women-led artisan groups in Java, Indonesia.
Read the UCLA Alumni Class Note
Where it started
Ivana grew up in Indonesia, surrounded by batik. After UCLA, she built a career in tech product management in Los Angeles. But she kept coming back to one question: how could the batik she grew up with reach new customers while keeping the artisans who make it at the center?
Kasih Co-op was her answer. "Kasih" means love in Indonesian, and the brand was built to pay that love forward to the makers.
What the note highlights
- Women at the center. More than 80% of our artisan partner businesses are women-owned.
- Fair trade, verified. Kasih Co-op is a member of the Fair Trade Federation and is verified by People + Planet First.
- Growing reach. Our bandanas, scarves and head wraps are now carried in more than 340 boutiques and museum gift stores.
- Keeping a craft alive. Every piece helps sustain traditional Indonesian batik while giving artisans fair pay and steady work.
The hands behind every piece
Our batik comes from family-run workshops in Cirebon, West Java, and Yogyakarta. Some designs are stamped by hand with copper blocks (batik cap). Others are drawn wax line by wax line with a canting pen (batik tulis). A fully hand-drawn batik tulis piece takes about 10 hours to make.
We've worked with our master artisans for years, and we review pay with them every production cycle. Ivana visits the workshops in Java every few years to plan new designs together.
A Bruin story, still being written
This isn't Kasih Co-op's first time on UCLA's radar. The brand was named to the UCLA Bruin Business 100 in 2023. Seeing it in Class Notes now feels like a full-circle moment for a small, self-funded brand.
Thank you to UCLA Alumni for sharing our story, and to every customer and retailer who has helped us get here.
Shop the collection: Explore our handmade batik bandanas, scarves and head wraps at kasihcoop.com.
Retailers: Interested in carrying Kasih Co-op? Email wholesale@kasihcoop.com or find us on Faire.
