While the technology is advancing and the world changing quickly, it is important to stay in touch with your roots. Now a days, in the fashion world everything is available with a single click on the mouse. With everything around us moving so quickly, there are some people in this country who are still trying to keep our heritage alive. Handloom is humble, pretty and evergreen unlike the crystal infused wear we all love.
So we at AAW decided to tell you all about the brands that are still making an effort to protect and enhance our culture and tradition. Not only this, but they are also helping weavers get income and help India progress. PS their collections are simply awesome and we have already got a few items in our carts!
- Soulful Hues, Indiranagar: This Bangalore based mother daughter duo, have made a name for themselves for hand crafted wedding trousseaus. Their fabrics are bought from all around the country. They make very different and usual combinations. They will mix Banarsi silks with Zamdani work or Chanderi silk with Bengal cotton. This has made them one of the leading brands of handlooms in Bangalore. The sarees cost somewhere between Rs.4000-8000.
Gaurang is one of the biggest brands in the fashion industry. Many celebrities are seeing wearing his designs. Gaurang Shah, the head designer, has a talented team of 500 weavers. Zamdani designs and Kalamkari patters on different fabrics such as Ikat, Banarsi silk and cotton are some of this specialties. The sarees cost somewhere between Rs.8000-2 lakh. He has opened a lot of stores in different parts of India.
This brand started approximately 4 decades ago, in a small guest room. Now the brand has taken over most of the two-storey house. They brought back temple silk when it was slowly dying. Pavithra Muddaya, the owner of this brand, says that now they can bring around any print or pattern that are vanishing. They want to save all this for the future generation, so that they also get a taste of our culture. They hire talented weavers from all corners of India. Temple silk ranges from Rs.3500-8000. They launched their latest collection of lungi and sarong style sarees which are available from Rs.850-1200.
This brand is run by the weavers themselves. It is a branch of another brand called Chenetha Lolor Weavers. The label has employed up to 250 weavers, helping them make some name and money in this world. Specialty of this brand is hand printing of sarees, and they primarily weave Ikat and Gadwal fabric. They also have home accessories and furnishings. According to the CEO of Karghaa, they have spent sleepless nights and years to make their silk Ikats perfect. They have different types of Ikats with different price brackets. The cotton Ikat is in the price range of Rs.3000-6000. Silk Ikat on the other hand can be a little expensive and the starting range is above 8000. Real handlooms are always very expensive, but you can also get cheap Ikat imitation starting from Rs.2000.
This brand has a history of 600 years of weaving quality. They have served Maharaja Saraboji of Tanjore and also the late Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. It employees more than thousand weavers, for their exclusive sareers, furnishings and garments. People say the store resemble more to a saree museum than a store. They have the best Banarsi silks, hand-spun Ikat, hand printed Kalamkaris and the most lavish collection of Kanjeevaram silks. Their linen Kanjeevarams cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The sarees here range from Rs.500-1 lakh. This brand has ornamented palaces, luxurious houses and five start hotels.
