Apparel April 2019 Apparel April 2019 issue | Page 44

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
BOOSTING INDIA’S RICH
HANDLOOM HERITAGE
Janice Goveas explores various options for promoting Indian handloom, an
integral part of India’s rich cultural heritage, and gives in-depth coverage of the
event organised earlier this year by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India,
to promote strategic partnerships between big brands and handloom clusters.
Indian handloom is an integral part of the
country’s legacy. Highly skilled weavers and
artisans have been instrumental in keeping the
tradition alive, despite the onslaught of machine-
made products. Kanchipuram of Tamil Nadu,
Baluchari and Jamdani of West Bengal, Paithani
of Maharashtra, Chanderi and Maheshwari of
Madhya Pradesh, muga of Assam, patola of
Gujarat, Kani of Kashmir, tie-dye, Vichitrapuri
and Bomkai of Orissa, brocades of Varanasi,
Balaramapuram of Kerala and Pochampally
of Andhra Pradesh are a few examples of our
precious handloom tradition.
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April 2019
UNLOCKING HANDLOOM VALUE
While the Government, over the years, has taken
various steps to promote handloom in the country
and to unlock the potential of commercialising
these crafts, this year, the Textile Ministry has
taken some very concrete steps to link textile
companies with handloom clusters. The idea is to
enable textile companies to source directly from
handloom clusters.
The strategic partnership between big brands
and handloom clusters was organised earlier
this year by the Ministry of Textiles, Government
of India, at the UNESCO World Heritage site,