“Isha Bhansali is a celebrity stylist who has styled big stars like Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkumar Rao , etc from the Bollywood film industry. In a lively discussion with me, she discussed the Indian handloom industry and the pros and cons of the same. She gave an industry insider’s viewpoint and insights regarding the handloom industry.
Script :
“ I think that this is a very interesting topic that you’re talking about are usually the handloom industry, put in a very separate category from the mainstream fashion industry. And I feel that it’s about time that even the handloom industry is regarded as mainstream. However, the boundaries are blurring and a lot of fashion weeks, for example, like we have a handloom handicraft day, you know, Lakme fashion week where it’s only dedicated to designers that are pure, you know, creating designs with handloom and handicrafts in mind, and you know, in their collections. At the same time, everything has its pros and cons. The cons, of having an intermediary, even though they are ethical, is the fact that we don’t know how much of these funds are getting into the pockets of the Handloom Weaver’s are the craftsmen. If they are directly in contact with us, obviously, they save costs on commission, they save costs on these agents. The government is however trying a lot of effort in putting these craftsmen at the forefront. But at the same time, I feel they also need a great marketing tool and marketing strategies to make us more aware and make other people more aware of their existence. Of course, the pros are the fact that yes to some people in the industry, it really does bring about a lot of awareness, which is a great thing. But I do feel that the momentum needs to increase it needs to be fueled more and more. Because only then we can save, we can save the handloom and they craft certain crafts are in fact kind of getting extinct. A lot of art, a lot of these techniques are getting extinct, they’re not being kind of used more often or they’re not being worn very often. They’re gaining getting not exactly I would say out of date, but they’re very few craftsmen working on it, making it not easily available. So, which is why I feel everything has its pros and cons, but I do feel that the biggest drawback currently is that they have not been, marketed very well. As much as the government is trying a lot of efforts to bring them to the forefront Lakme Fashion Week, for example, they have one day, dedicated to the nice handloom Weaver’s or designers who are promoting handle handloom craftsmen, which is great, but I feel that these promotional strategies have to become stagnant. I feel that the momentum is not going on a tangent, it’s not really in sync with the way everything else in the fashion industry is going pretty fast. But this is kind of getting a little stagnant. So, I feel we need to catch up more, and they need to catch up as well. And kind of making us more aware of the handloom industry. At the end of the day, I feel that the agenda should be to make the handloom industry much more to the forefront and make them more mainstream and make people more aware that they exist in our country. So, both have their pros and cons having intermediaries and not the government is also one of them. But I do feel that most of the funds and the earnings. I feel that the handloom craftsmen deserve much more than what they’re getting currently. ”