Weave India, an initiative to support weavers and promote Handlooms kicked off

Weavers are burdened with the tax on raw materials such as yarn, dyes, looms and finished handloom products. The Government needs to look at Tax structure imposed on the Handlooms Sector: Ms Bina Rao, Luminary in Handloom Sector and a former member of World Crafts Council

This is the time for corporate houses to genuinely use their CSR funds to rejuvenate our Handloom sector: Bina Rao.

Hyderabad, August 07 2021. The Government needs to look at the Tax structure imposed on the Handlooms Sector. Weavers are burdened with the tax on raw materials such as yarn, dyes, looms and finished handloom products, said Ms Bina Rao, a luminary of the Indian Handloom Sector. She was addressing a gathering of Fashion Designers, Design Students, Weavers and fans of Handloom Fabric as a Chief Guest at the Weave India, an initiative of Roots College of Design, Film and Media held at Jubilee Hills to support and promote Handlooms. 

Speaking further Bina Rao who was a member of the World Handicrafts Council added that the Government must make the export process easy and the foreign trade office should have simpler norms for receiving foreign remittances against export from India. To sell our handloom products, the world is the market, she said. 

This is the time for corporate houses to genuinely use their CSR funds to rejuvenate our Handloom sector, Bina Rao, Co-Founders of Creative Bee, a well-known design studio that has designed for some of the top fashion and lifestyle labels in the country and multi-store retail giants around the world, said. 

Ms Rao added that the Ikkat has become the victim of the digital trend. She wondered why traditional skills are being copied in digital.

National Handloom Day was my initiative recommended to the Government of India she shared. And I am happy that it is now widely observed, she remarked.  

Mr. Shravan Kumar, Fashion Designer of Shravan Studio, a true fashionista with an unparalleled command of the latest trends and styles and Mr. Aravind Jashua, Fashion, Costume and Crafts Designer of Thrithvaa Khaadi were guests of honour. Addressing the gathering of young Fashion Designers, Mr Arvind said, “Khadi and Handlooms can’t survive without your active involvement. People love talking about Khadi and Handloom but when the time comes to pay for the fabric they go back and make the excuse that it is a cheap fabric. India still has a tradition of weaving unlike many nations, he added. Mr. Shravan Kumar said Handloom is neither religion nor a business but it is a religion for me.  

Chairman of Roots Collegium, Mr. BP Padala said, Weave India is planned to promote and bring the spotlight back on to the traditional art of weaving and promote weaving as art and weavers as artists. Through this initiative, we would like to connect millennials and others to Handlooms and its legacy. 

The handloom is India’s cultural heritage. It is also an important source of livelihood, especially for women, who form around 70% of the weavers or allied workers in the sector. Weave India is an exhibition by weaver and for weavers. 18 Weavers from Venkatagiri, Mangalagiri, Narayanpet, Gollabhama, Gadwal, Kalamkari will take part.. Muslin weavers from West Bengal will also participate, he said. 

National Handloom Day is an occasion to reiterate support to our weavers by enhancing the spirit of #MyHandloomMyPride. Let us support local handloom products he announced 

“On National Handloom Day, we would like to salute all those associated with our vibrant handloom and handicrafts sector, Ms Mutha Prerna Kirthi, Center Head of Roots College said. 

It is a two-day exhibition. It will conclude on Sunday Weave India is organized by Roots to observe and celebrate National Handloom Day. The day is celebrated annually to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement launched in 1905. Weave India planned to make people aware Handlooms are our Legacy, she added.

Stating further, Ms. Kirthi said “Fashion is the most polluting industry today. The only way forward is to go sustainable. The best move forward towards sustainability is going back to our ‘Roots’. The theme for the 30 Years Celebration of Roots Collegium is also “Going Back To Roots”. The Pandemic may be bad in many ways. But it is also good in some ways. 

 Thanks to it, Work From Home employees moved to villages and began the ‘Work From Village’ Concept. Thanks to this unforeseen, yet very important thing allowed many to get connected to what we had forsaken, especially when it comes to remembering good old and traditional things. So we thought it fit and very appropriate to further consolidate the message of connecting back to our roots. 

Three students of Roots College who started their CraftsPreneurship also showcase their products.  

Roots College Students, their staff, family members, guests and the general public interested in Handlooms and various weavers, fashion designers, fashion lovers, handloom lovers visited Weave India.

A handmade soap brand “Arts and Weaves” made from pure ghee was also launched on the occasion.