Ludhiana: Providing a platform to broaden the scope of unique creations to the global markets and create product and design ecosystem for both nationally and internationally, FICCI Ladies Organization and Iamkhaadii Foundation jointly organized the ‘World Weaver’s Forum’ in association with Khadi and Village Industrial Commission, Central Silk Board and The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) here on Saturday.
This forum caters to buyers, retailers, fashion and textile designers, technical experts and manufacturers so that they can work together to create uniquely fresh and eco-friendly products ideas for both Indian and global consumers.
Reena Aggarwal, chairman of FICCI FLO, said, “We will be working directly with weavers and designers to boost sales in India and abroad. However, new design intervention, innovation and development are required for marketing and exports of products and to strengthen the value chain is possible by connecting handloom clusters with design institutes at a pan-India level.”
FICCI FLO is also working towards women empowerment in its bid to boost country’s handwoven, hand-embroidered and handcrafted heritage, she said.
Yash Arya, founder of Iamkhadii, said, “In the pursuit of widening the reach of khadi, handloom domestic retailing and exports to foreign countries, we have been working dedicatedly to bring in standardization and design intervention in the industry, thus helping the value chain to be dynamic and responsive towards the ever-changing demands of both domestic and global customers.”
Khadi couture walk
Khadi dresses are displayed by doing amalgamation of cotton and silk by different designers and the forum will be connecting artisans at grassroots level to global retailers and buyers. The global forum would explore the possibilities of both inter-state fusions of various art forms on handloom and khadi as well as cross-country syntheses of art forms from various countries.Designers talk platform
My designs on khadi are an allusion to the ‘Egyptian fusion’ — like gypsies wearing embellished block print styles. Such khadi wear can be worked with rudrakash jewellery. With the help of forum, many designers have got a platform to give bulk orders to weavers. This will help khadi lovers in India and abroad
Divya Jain | New Delhi
I started in Kashmir around 27 years ago when the area was wrought with terrorism and people had lost jobs. So, I went there and hired artisans and created intricate designs with them. This was they had a source of income too. Through this grand platform, many more such creative weavers will come forward
Vandana Verma | Jammu & Kashmir
The forum has given us a chance to return to our weaving heritage, which we are on the verge of losing to machines. In fact, not only dresses but headgears and other embroideries can also be promoted through khadi yarn. We don’t have buyers because people feel that it is a luxurious and expensive product. So, our goal is to make it more simple and economical by doing collaborations besides making fashion students learn more about the fabric.
Shivali Kalra
Published On : 22-04-2019
Source : Times of India
