Know who wove your sari

Read attached tag and get information about weaver

Handloom saris are on sale at Co-optex in Coimbatore, with tags containing details of weavers. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

Customers who walk into Co-optex outlets to buy a hand-woven sari will now get to know about the weaver who had woven it too.

Co-optex outlets in Coimbatore region will now have saris with details of the weaver, his or her age, where the sari was woven and how long it took for the weaver to weave it.

“This is an honour to the weaver,” says S.M.A. Syed Mohamed, regional manager of Co-optex regional office, Coimbatore. The region, which covers Coimbatore, Erode, Tirupur and The Nilgiris Districts, has 16 Co-optex outlets and saris are procured from nearly 90 cooperative societies in the district apart from those in other parts of the State. The varieties at the outlets include cotton, soft silk, kora, and silk saris.

“A weaver is also an artisan. It takes two or three days to weave a silk sari and it is mostly done by one person, assisted by his immediate family members,” Mr. Mohamed explains.

The Co-optex has given the format of the label to all the cooperative societies. The societies add the photo of the weaver and details such as his name, age, and time taken to weave the sari on the tag and attach it to the product. This is now done only for saris.

A few silk and cotton saris with the label have been supplied to the outlets now. All varieties of saris procured by Co-optex will have it. Handloom and Silk marks are attached to the product so that customers are assured that they are buying a pure silk or a hand-woven sari.