Handloom sees a revival in India

Till sometime ago, handloom was regarded the ideal attire for politicians and villagers. Even as mass-market clothing still dominates, it's seeing a revival with demand of handloom dress material being sourced for ethical fashion. India is among the biggest manufacturers of textiles and apparel in the world supplying leading international brands. But the domestic market being large, it accounts for more than 40 per cent of the industry's revenue.

In fact, the newly appointed textiles minister Smriti Irani in her new textile policy too boosts the handloom sector by encompassing all verticals of the sector. In fact, in a run up to the policy announcement, the minister had launched a hashtag #IWearHandloom in the social media. The experiment has been successful with 20 million impressions and even given a boost to sales.

Handloom’s popularity soars

The sector is dominated by small and medium-sized firms that are under enormous pressure to reduce costs and produce garments quickly. Many use forced labour, while abuses including withheld salaries and debt bondage are rife, it is gathered. Wages in India's textile and garment industry are about $1.06 an hour, compared with $2.60 in China, according to the World Bank.

The pressure on margins trickles down to cotton farmers. More than 90 per cent of cotton in India is genetically modified and as seeds cannot be replanted, farmers have been struggling with rising input costs and lower prices for cotton. This has also led to thousands of indebted cotton farmers in Maharashtra many have killed themselves in the past two decades. It was the plight of these farmers that drove Apurva Kothari, who was working in technology in San Francisco, to return to India and set up apparel brand No Nasties in 2011. The company sources organic cotton and audits its supply chain to ensure that there is no child labour workers receive fair wages, he observes. No Nasties and Do U Speak Green are among a handful of Fairtrade-licensed clothing brands in India.

They source from producers including Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills which deals in organic and fair trade cotton and pays fair wages and Chetna Organic whose seed conservation project has organic seed banks from which farmers can withdraw seeds. They are getting a boost from Fairtrade India, which set up office in 2013, and has stamped its distinct circular logo on a small range of products including tea, coffee, rice and sugar. It is also working with Amazon India to make Fairtrade-certified products available online.

Working conditions and wages in South Asia's garment industry have come under greater scrutiny since the April 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, in which more than 1,100 workers died. But efforts by retailers to clean up supply chains will have little impact unless consumers in India demand more ethically produced goods, analysts say. Brands can take inspiration from success stories including Fabindia. Set up in 1960 to market diverse craft traditions, the company appeals to both young and old consumers, the wealthy and the not-so wealthy.

Meanwhile Irani says she plans to use social media to reach out to a wider audience to popularise handloom. From #IWearHandloom she would like to move to #IJustBoughtHandloom. The minister said that she would like to see the last mile weaver connect with the designer. Her efforts will be to make handloom more acceptable.

The involvement of designers will be paramount in giving handlooms a new lease of life. The minister suggested that it will be important to see which designers want to do ready-to-wear, which want to do the high-end and which are looking at engaging only from a preservation point of view. In the end, people should understand the value of handloom products.