by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Ritu Kumar
By Nivedita,
New Delhi : Veteran fashion designer Ritu Kumar says it is important to lower the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on handlooms to sustain the sector and improve the livelihood of craftspeople.
India today has 16 million craftspeople who are working on textiles as an everyday profession, she noted.
“This is… the size of most small countries; the population. It is very important to both sustain the craft and the art behind (handloom) as well as the livelihood of so many people,” she told IANS in an email interview, adding that the sector had the potential to be a huge generator of income.
“Today you see a lot of craftspeople’s children moving to the city and not taking up traditional crafts. It is important to provide incentives for them to come back and work. If we can lower the GST, or eliminate it, from the handicraft or handloom areas, it will give an incentive to the younger craftspeople to come back to this livelihood,” she added.
Handloom fabrics and handloom apparel have been made taxable with GST rates of 5 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.
Kumar started her career in 1969 and has great understanding of traditional design and the innovative use of traditional crafts. She started with just four hand-block printers and two tables in a small village near Kolkata and pioneered the term “fashion” in the Indian context.
With an over four-decade-long journey in the industry, Kumar, whose list of clients include Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and international celebrities such as the late Princess Diana and Mischa Barton, has seen the evolution in the fashion world.
“Textiles, in India in particular, have involved in a fairly spectacular manner. From almost being non-existent after the colonial ban on most handlooms and handicrafts, it has today evolved into the best of each discipline… whether it is weaving, printing or embroidery,” said Kumar.
“This has not happened in any other country where most textiles and crafts were systematically decimated and were found in museums rather than in everyday use. This is the miracle that I’m seeing in India,” she added.
The designer, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 for her exceptional service in the field of fashion, textiles and craftsmanship, feels the history of Indian textiles was ignored in the 150 years of modernisation.
“And we, from being one of the countries with the largest exports of textiles, became one of the largest importers of Lancashire and Manchester produced goods. So what we completely ignored was the historical significance of India as a creator of textiles and an influencer of fashion for centuries, a place where I think its slowly going to get back,” said the designer.
Kumar is currently showcasing at the fifth edition of the Nayaab exhibition that celebrates the magnificence of Indian weaves. It is curated by Rupa Sood and Sharan Apparao.
“This is our first time being a part of Nayaab. It’s an effort to celebrate Indian textiles, which falls in line with our brand DNA. Nayaab strives for excellence and believes in celebrating the finest of Indian weaves by curating and showcasing the wonders of Indian textiles.
“This edition of Nayaab aspires to embody the traditions of Indian textile heritage and epitomises the stories of the countless hands that have worked to create these masterpieces,” said the designer.
The exhibition is on display at The Lodhi till Saturday.
(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Business Ideas, Economy, Emerging Businesses, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Medium Enterprise, News, Politics, Private Jobs, SMEs
New Delhi : Khadi and handloom are transforming and empowering the poor by bringing positive and qualitative changes in their lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.
From the days of ‘Khadi for Nation’, India first saw ‘Khadi for Fashion’ and now the country was moving towards ‘Khadi for transformation’, Modi said in his monthly radio broadcast ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
“Khadi and handloom have transformed the lives of the poorest of the poor and are emerging as a powerful means of empowering them. It is playing a very important role for Gramodaya.”
He said that compared to last year, the total sales of Khadi and handicrafts increased by almost 90 per cent.
“On Gandhi Jayanti, I have always advocated the use of khadi and handloom. What has it led to? You will be glad to know that on the 17th of this month on the day of Dhanteras, the Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan store in Delhi witnessed a record sale of Rs 1 crore,” Modi said.
He said that during Diwali, the sale of Khadi gift coupons zoomed by around 680 per cent.
“One can clearly see that today, the youth, the elderly, women, in fact every age group is taking to Khadi and handloom.
“I can imagine how many weaver families, poor families and the families working on handloom must have benefited from this.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, News, SMEs
Curator Mayank Mansingh Kaul with textile designers Swati & Sunaina
By Nivedita,
New Delhi : Designer duo Swati and Sunaina, who came together in 2007 with the aim of rediscovering the lost treasures of Indian woven textiles and offering them to a discerning audience, say the country’s handloom industry is still a very disorganised sector despite being so huge.
And as it is disorganised, the precision required to meet quality standards and the demands of the global market is missing. Such precision is possible “only if the sector is organised from start to finish, and standardised norms set by the government are stringently incorporated”, Swati told IANS in an email interview from Kolkata.
“Designers can and are already creating great silhouettes from Indian handlooms,” said Sunaina, adding that what is now required is a “lateral shift towards handlooms and appreciation of its quality and worth among those choosing to be dressed in Western cuts and patterns”.
“Alternatively, a sari, which is the most versatile unstitched garment draped and presented in many forms to create any desired silhouette, is suitable for the red carpet.”
The designer duo have infused innovation and freshness into their handloom work, which reflect in the motifs, colours and placements, culminating in limited-edition textiles that celebrate tradition.
All the handloom saris at their Kolkata store “Swati and Sunaina” are made on the pit looms of Banaras using techniques passed down the generations by master craftsmen. The use of pure, certified gold zari to intricately weave saris has been the hallmark of the label that consciously chooses quality over quantity.
For a few years now, they have worked with master weavers and this has involved understanding how such zari is made.
“The Banaras handloom industry is very versatile and adaptable” and open to influence and inputs, making it “easy for anyone to put their designs into the process of production. The weavers are known to pick any specialised form of weaving from any sector and re-create it — a case in point being Jaamdani of Bengal — making Banaras handloom a viable ‘Make in India’ product,” said Swati.
As designers, they like to retain the classicism of traditional Banarasi patterns and infuse freshness with play of modern colours and pattern placement, said Sunaina.
“An innovation in design and experiment that we successfully conducted was interpreting antique jewellery into woven design patterns and successfully creating a three-dimensional effect by playing with colours and intelligent weaving,” she said.
They feel fashion lovers today are great seekers of knowledge and love to arm themselves with finer details about the handlom that they choose to wear.
“Interestingly, I have observed that the newer generation is a quick learner of intricacies involved in the production of any handloom,” said Swati.
Added Sunaina: “Our challenges are more about creating awareness of the intricacies of procuring complexed textiles. As a solution to this, we have taken up educating young minds with informative videos about the processes involved in creating pure zari and textiles.”
They recently held an exhibition on art of zari titled ‘Gold’, which was curated by Mayank Mansingh Kaul. It showcased the process of the making of zari via a multi-media presentation, using photographs, film and video projections.
So how has zari work evolved from the past to the present?
“Zari has been an integral part of Indian handlooms (and) was always associated with wedding finery and richness. From the early 20th century, zari has undergone a revolution from being totally hand-drawn to being partially mechanised and this has made zari production easier and more (in volume),” Swati told IANS.
“Zari is created from precious metals, (so) textiles woven with real zari have a higher value,” said Sunaina, adding that they could only be afforded by a few. “It was always associated with royalty, nobility and wedding trousseau.”
“With time, the class barriers have disappeared and anybody with a desire and ability to buy has access to the finest.”
(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)
—IANS
