Last year saw the government scrapping the Handloom and Handicrafts Boards ahead of National Handloom Day. Then came the usual hashtag-studded selfies from celebrities and politicians indicating that handloom had finally gone mainstream. But has it really? Have we given the power back to our weavers?
2021 is seeing everyone from high-end designers to craft-led NGOs putting the spotlight on the faces behind our many weaves. Ramesh Menon of Kerala’s Save The Loom is working on a scholarship programme for artisan families alongside a live museum that will bring visitors face-to-face with artisans. Designer Rahul Mishra who recently had his fourth showing at the Paris Haute Couture Week, is working with Save The Loom on a pilot project to help Chendamangalam weavers. At Craft Council of India, their #CCIDirectWeaver initiative is putting clients directly in touch with artisans to make a purchase, and Chhoti Si Asha in Chandigarh has been working on design portfolios for their women-led clusters. It is also heartening to note that e-commerce giants like Amazon are stepping up. Earlier this year, Amazon India Karigar launched ‘Handcrafted, With Love’ that onboarded master weavers, co-operatives, artisans and government organisations.
While the hashtags will continue to generate the expected buzz – the Prime Minister’s hashtag for this year is #MyHandloomMyPride – we asked designers and experts in the industry how Handloom can compete with fast fashion’s price points and contemporary styling to interest younger buyers.
Rahul Mishra
Fashion is handloom’s hope
It is a misconception that tailoring doesn’t work with handloom. Take my debut collection in 2006, when I used cotton handloom (excess stock of the Kerala handloom fabric) as part of my diploma project… it was all tailored. As were my garments with the Maheshwari fabric. Handloom, which has survived for hundreds of years, has now been in crisis for a few decades. Fashion has been the enemy to the craft but is also its hope. Remember that handloom is a local industry and therefore the solutions are available locally, be it in Kerala’s Chendamangalam town or Telangana’s Pochampally.
From Rahul Mishra’s 2013 collection that featured reversible dresses crafted from the Kerala mundu
This season, I worked on a pilot project with Save the Loom (the nonprofit community group) to prove that consumption does not have to be only during Onam or weddings, and that weaving must be a full-time job. The idea that starts in my studio in Delhi is implemented at the local level. The capsule collection has 11 garments and we will train local tailors, on everything from pattern cutting to even marketing and social media. The weaver doesn’t have to be trained, of course. I have designed for this project in such a way that everything used is local, with no embroidery, nothing imported. Every state can get answers like this if designers try not to think only about themselves. The cool quotient starts with the designer, perhaps, but the pricing must be decided at the local level to empower the weavers’ ecosystem.
Rahul Mishra spent several months in Kerala for his college project back in 2006, and with this Save The Loom initiative, the designer comes full circle. The capsule collection of 100 % cotton tunics and pallazos, priced from ₹15,000 to ₹35,000, will be retailed by Save The Loom. @rahulmishra_7 on Instagram
Shivangini Parihar and Rekha Datla (right)
Focus on display
Every state in the country has a weaving tradition. It just needs to be brought out and showcased properly and converted into silhouettes that young people will be drawn to. There are such beautiful fabrics available to us. Sadly, the display is so dusty and drab. After all, what is a Zara without its display or any other popular brand for that matter? Young people turn to western designs only because they are low maintenance, and do not need the kind of care handlooms may need. But having said that, I believe the young generation is a very kind generation and they will be happy to wear handlooms if that can bring about change.
- Shivangini Parihar who with her partner Rekha Datla at modern lifestyle brand Summer House find inspiration in Indian handcraft techniques. @thesummerhouse.in on Instagram
Shani Himanshu and Mia Morikawa
Create producer clusters
For hundreds of years Indian fabrics have been draped unstitched as saris, dhotis or scarves. It is not built to make structured garments, but that does not mean it cannot be done. Khadi Gramodyog is doing some very interesting work. But such initiatives are being done in fits and spurts and in isolation. There is no planned collaboration to promote handloom to its potential.
- Artisans have traditional skills but do not have business skills. They are not aware of their rights, wages, what they are entitled to…and are ruthlessly exploited for that reason. We teach them the best practices, teach them costing, about lead time, about questions they should ask their clients and upgrade their entrepreneurial skills.
- Sonica Sarna , whose ethical design and production company creates sustainable products and supply chains for brands and designers. Their new collection launches on August 15, 2021.
It is important that we safeguard against exploitation, short cuts and dilution of age-old techniques. We as a brand are working directly with 400 artisans and very few middlemen. We are in the process of preparing a producer cluster in Kutch where 300 of our dyers, printers, weavers, tailors, etc. will work together. They will be co-owners of the company. But just having one or two such set ups will not work. We need to replicate these models in their hundreds across the country for it to make a difference to the conservation and promotion of handlooms. This is where big players can make a difference and bring about a change in the dynamics of traditional Indian handlooms. But there has to be a long term vision and planning in order to do this. This is not something that will happen overnight. Also design education needs to be reinvented and refreshed.
- Himanshu Shani, who with his partner Mia Morikawa at 11.11/eleven.eleven is trying to ensure his customers know the makers behind every product, courtesy NFC (near field communication) technology. @1111clothing on Instagram
Laila Tyabji
Begin with the textile people
Most of our weaving traditions - and therefore the techniques, looms and yarns used - were intended for draped rather than cut and stitched wearing styles. The fabric therefore often doesn’t fall well when tailored in Western styles. It bags and pulls and the seams give way because it is fine and loosely woven. We need textile people to work on the construction of the fabric and develop varieties that work appropriately before we let the fashion designers loose!
- Laila Tyabji, chairperson of Dastkar, an NGO that works to support traditional Indian craftspeople. @dastkar.delhi on Instagram
Sreejith Jeevan
Change the context
It’s a design challenge, where we have to see what we can make for which market. Bringing in modern tweaks is a good idea. Like what we are doing with our mundum neriyathum — where the neriyathu can also be used as a dupatta — or the kasavu sari in pastel shades. Handloom can make a lot of sense by changing the context. Like what Indu Menon of Kara Weaves is doing. By reimagining the thorthu as cocktail napkins, aprons, bathrobes, resort wear and beach cover-ups, it’s become a lot more valuable. It’s also a lot more sustainable for the weaver because they can get another market.
- Sreejith Jeevan, founder-designer, Rouka, brief explanation for context. @roukabysreejithjeevan on Instagram
Kshitij Jalori
There must be adaptability
We have to accept that true handloom will always be expensive and almost impossible to scale up to an extent that it becomes ‘affordable for all’. But there must be adaptability. I have many clients who understand Indian culture and ethos. So, if they cannot wear a kurta/pyjama, I sometimes make trench coats in Banarasi brocade for them, so that they can still sport Indian fabrics and craftsmanship and feel closer to their Indian roots. There needs to be more awareness in people at large about the Indian traditions of weaving, dyeing, printing, etc. If designers work directly with the artisans without a middleman, it would help enormously in keeping the handloom tradition viable and alive.
- Kshitij Jalori, a designer known for his contemporary perspective on traditional textiles. @kshitijjalori on Instagram
From the Wunderhaus collection
Back to roots
We use a story format with a youthful visual language to take the audience on a journey of making of the clothes, starting from sensitising them about the weavers and their communities. Our shoots also make people understand that investing in handloom is supporting the craft.
- Kedar Maddula whose Puducherry-based Wunderhaus uses locally-produced short-staple cotton woven by clusters in Madurai and Kurinjipadi.
Wunderhaus design studio has a limited edition Ikat unisex collection fashioned from heirloom Ikat from Sambalpur, Odisha, starting August 21. @wunderhaus.pondicherry on Instagram
- With inputs from Surya Praphulla Kumar
