India's textiles get a ramp salute

India is a treasure trove of textiles with diverse patterns colours and fabrics that change every few square km The vibrancy of our countryrsquos culture is brought to the fore by the purveyors of our unique textiles and techniques that range from Paithani in Maharashtra to Jamdani in West Bengal and Phulkari in Punjab to Ikat in Andhra PradeshBringing forth the flavour of Meghalaya designer Sidharth Sinha has created a line using Dakmanda handwoven cotton fabric used extensively in the stateHowever with the turn of the century came the Western influences and new technologies that gradually and sadly ate into the popularity of our seamless heritage While few Indian designers including Ritu Kumar Abraham and Thakore Krishna Mehta and Abu JaniSandeep Khosla have been showcasing our traditional riches this seasonrsquos edition of the Lakmeacute Fashion Week LFW will present new faces on the blockThis highprofile platform has for a few years now attempted to highlight the relevance of Indian textiles by dedicating an entire day from the fiveday event to it however this year the fashion spectacle will witness lines by five textile designers Works by Anavila Sindhu Misra Mumbai Karishma Shahani Khan Pune Lalit Sengar Ghaziabad Sidharth Sinha Delhi and Suket Dhir Delhi will take to the rampDesigner Anavila Sidhu Misrarsquos works will bring forward techniques like handblocking applique batik and jamdani extensively done on linenLetrsquos talk moneyBut does this focus make business sense considering that each piece takes months to complete largely due to the painstaking effort by weavers ldquoAt the moment the demand is very less People obviously are aware of a variety of Indian textiles but they donrsquot value it In fact it is strange that internationally our textiles are favoured more Out there people donrsquot come across handwoven and handcrafted fabrics and embroideries so they really value it and are willing to pay the price it deservesrdquo Sidharth Sinha reveals candidly Thankfully he is hopeful that the buzz generated in the last few years and increased involvement from Indian designers might help increase demand in India with timeSinharsquos marketing arm Nathaniel Rynjah elaborates that from point of view of sale the demand in India is next to zero ldquoThere are very few stores that stock garments where the sole focus is on Indian textiles and techniques Also handcrafted pieces take a long time to create each piece takes months depending on the intricacy involved Hence it is slightly more expensive than other products But people donrsquot understand this increase in costrdquo he maintainsA design from Lalit Sengarrsquos collection focussed on Chanderi an old weaving technique of producing finely textured silk and cotton fabrics embellished with zari workWhat is the solutionRynjah feels that one of the remedies to bridge the gap between consumers and suppliers is to educate them about the processes and the hard work that goes into the creation of every garmentKarishma Shahani Khan echoes Rynjahrsquos thoughts and has found a way to do this already The young designerrsquos garments always carry a small note that explains the background of every piece ldquoThis creates awareness and even the consumer is not in any state of ambiguity resulting from lack of knowledge about the processrdquo she explains She told us though that the bottom line is that dealing in garments made from Indian textiles doesnrsquot result in earning huge profits itrsquos passion that drives herHowever transforming this passion into reality isnrsquot a cakewalk Working with weavers in faroff villages and trying to make them understand new trends is not a mean featLalit Sengar spells out the process ldquoBeing an Indian designer with such a vast exposure of Indian textiles I find myself overwhelmed at times with options to choose from while designing a line Since itrsquos not streamlined and the weavers are not so approachable it ends up being a little more expensive than just buying the fabric from the market and designing a clothing linerdquoHe goes on to explain how finding a weaver is never an issue but working with them on a particular theme or collection remains the challenge ldquoBesides there are so many middle men in this process that sometimes even the weavers donrsquot wish to work with us directly They prefer us coming to them through these middle men We need to work on a business model where the weavers can work and earn profit from their craft without any mediationrdquoThe Lakmeacute Fashion Week will take place between March 12 to 16 in Mumbai