Khadi eyes youth to grow its market base

September 23, 2014 09:20 am | Updated 09:20 am IST - DINDIGUL

Customers looking at new designs of cotton saris and churidhar materials at the Khadi showroom at Gandhigram near Dindigul on Monday. Photo: G. Karthikeyan

Customers looking at new designs of cotton saris and churidhar materials at the Khadi showroom at Gandhigram near Dindigul on Monday. Photo: G. Karthikeyan

Khadi and Village Industries Trust, a unit of Gandhigram Trust, is heading for a major structural change to take khadi products to the younger generation and to compete with commercial institutions in the highly potential branded shirt market this festival season.

It has also planned to promote organic and natural dyed clothes and readymade items to meet the growing demands of high-end customers, according to its Managing Trustee Gita Ram.

Addressing a meeting with members of the trust here on Monday, she said that the trust had planned to give a new look for khadi products by modernising them in a manner suitable to the next generation.

New designers from Craft Council of India had been roped in to redesign khadi shirts to meet the taste and preferences of the youth, she added. A Special Design and Rejuvenation Committee had been formed.

Gandhigram Trust secretary K. Shiva Kumar stated that organic textile materials and natural dyed clothes had very good market in the country. Luring youth to buy khadi products would ensure sustainability of khadi industries in future. “We are in touch with the Khadi Mission to promote khadi materials in large scale by strengthening Khadi Mission network,” he said.

To begin with, khadi has introduced five new designs of saris and shirting materials for this Deepavali. Initially, these aesthetically designed saris will be sold only at the Chinnalapatti khadi showroom.

Mass production of these saris has commenced and a total of 100 saris of these new designs will hit the New Delhi market in 2015.

Shirting cloth in dark colour stripes and plain colour are also displayed at the khadi showroom at Chinnalapatti. Besides, bed sheets, bed cover, pillow cover, towels, kurtha materials and chuidhar materials are also on display at the showroom for this festival.

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