With the Government declaring August 7 as National Handloom Day and launching schemes to revive and restore the heritage craft, it’s boom time for local weavers, artisans and fashion designers associated with this sector, says Aviinash K Pathania
With advancement in technology and rising globalisation, there has been a sudden spurt in the demand of fashion designers, weavers and artisans to innovate and restore the heritage of old handloom craft and techniques of India. As Modi Government declared August 7 as National Handloom Day in India, this has opened up various opportunities to the craftsmen from various parts of India to collaborate with the fashion houses and designers. It has also played a great move in the improvement in the socio-economic status of the handloom weavers through making the handloom sector more creative and productive.
Under Make in India and Skill India campaigns, various Government organisations like National Handloom Development Corporation of India etc has introduced several plans for the upliftment of handloom sector. Some of them are Diversified Handloom Development scheme, mail gate price scheme, handloom weavers comprehensive welfare scheme, marketing and export promotion scheme, integrated handloom development scheme and much more. A lot of workshops are now being conducted in every State by the Government and designers to upgrade the skills of the tribal handloom weavers and artisans in using new techniques, technology and marketing tricks.
Apart from the Government support, some private organisations like Indian Federation for Fashion Development (IFFD) are bringing a lot of attention on the power of handloom industry and how Indian textiles can also be used efficiently in high fashion and make a mark in the international fashion industry. One of the steps is presenting Indian textile through designer wear in this year’s IFFD calendar.
The unique textures and raw materials created by the weavers from Rajasthan, Udaipur, West Bengal, Assamese, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc have been instrumental in the creating new designs and by India’s fashion designers. Fashion labels like Akaaro by Gaurav Jai Gupta; Eka by Rina Singh; Raw Mango by Sanjay Garg and many others have been working towards the effective utilisation of Indian craft and revival of handloom creations. Not just that, the handloom industry is fueled by big fashion houses who are funding the craftsmen and setting up their own manufacturing unit in collaboration with them. Of late Maharashtra’s textile industry signed an agreement with Raymond for setting up a Rs1,500 crore textile plant at Nandgaonpeth in Amravati.
Scope
Apart from the fashion designers and entrepreneurs, online has emerged has a big market for the artisans who can reach out to a larger audience and sell their products at a good price. Where e-commerce sites like Flipkart, Myntra, Amazon and many others have been collaborating with the local weavers, websites like Indianroots.com, indianartisans.com, craftsvilla are giving a lot of push to the industry by featuring artisan and their work and giving them a great platform to sell their products as well. To make a successful career in handloom industry, all it requires an edge over understanding the nature of loom and yarn and new techniques of working.
Job prospects
The job prospects have opened up manifold at all levels. The sector has given more employment opportunities to the regional artisans who have been instrumental in keeping the craft alive. There have been new openings in the Government sectors like National Handloom Development Corporation, Karnataka Handloom Development Corporation, National Skills Development Corporation etc. Of late there have been a lot of public private partnerships to tap the huge potential of artisans from nook and corner of the country. Renowned fashion designers have collaborated with large number of artisans from various States to produce the materials and making their collection out of it in the national and international fashion shows.
Courses available
Some of the courses that aspirants can enroll in includes Textile Technology, Textile Engineering, Handloom Technology, Master of Business Administration with specialisation in marketing, Home Science with specialisation in Textile And Apparel Designing, Textile Chemistry, Textile Processing and many others.
Remuneration
The State Government organises craft hart where craftsmen showcase their creation that gives them a lot of exposure in the market. Also, most of the Government and private organisations help them to earn a minimum of Rs10,000 to Rs15,000 every monthly in the starting, which goes up to Rs25,000. Those, who set up their own boutique or manufacturing unit, can earn above Rs40,000 as per the demand in the market.
(The writer is director of Indian Federation for Fashion Development)