The Fabrics of India

No country can compete with India when it comes to quality, beauty and variety in textile.

Collette Dinnigan and Galliano for Dior have their fabrics made in India using tradition skills and beauty to make something modern and glamorous.

Around 40% of Indian fabrics are handmade in cottage industries. Although India has factories and issue around sweatshop and slave labours (particularly in cotton farming where children are still taken into slavery to pay family debts) it stands at a crossroads and we can help India make the right choices by saying no to cheap fabrics and embracing the fabulous handmade articles.

It's not charity, it's conscientious shopping.

Mustafa of Mustafa Silk Industries in Varanasi. "China is no competition for me. I sell quality not cheapness. I sell to last a lifetime, not 6 months"

Mustafa is a 9th generation Silk baron overseeing 10,000 workers handlooming and embroidering for goods that sell at Harrods and David Jones amongst others. His silk use traditional natural stone dyes. You can wonder the winding streets of the Muslim quarter and see the work being done and judge for yourself.

Angora weaving , Manali.

Kashmir is famous for Pashmina (from goats chin). Chain stitch embroidery is done in woollens and the most expensive has an equally beautiful pattern on both sides. Top European designers source sweaters from Kashmir.

It's also the source of the Mulberry for some of Indians silk industry.

Varanasi is one of the centre for traditional sari silk weaving (though a visitor maybe overwhelmed with inferior quality tourist versions). These days the silk is also exported as high quality homeware.

Most larger towns like Manali have some sort of weavers coop maintaining weaving techiniques. Utaranchal in the Himilayalas has wool weaving and also a large Tibetan community offerinc chucky wool knits.

Darjeeling is the home of Jute- mostly used for eco carrying bags.

Dusty Rajastan is a bevy of tailors working out of street shops on their beautiful winding cobbled streets.

Local women are one of the brightest in India. Beautiful women adorned bright red saris dig holes and herd cattle!

Rajastans print is tie-dyed block. Pushkar is the source of much of the hippy clothing appearing in Western markets.

Ikat (also found in Cambodia) is a type of weaving where the warp, wefot or both are tie-died before weaving to create designs on the finished fabric. Orissa is famous for the double Ikat tradition, regarded as masterpieces. One sari may take 2 men 7 months to complete.

Gurajat is home of Ghandi and the amazing Calico Museum, one of the most complete textile learning centres in the world in Ahmedbad.

Gurajat is also where those mirrored embroidery comes from (much sold in backpacker and hippy markets everywhere). Gurajat also prides itself on Patola tye-dyed silks where the geometric pattern is seen equally on both sides.

This is where a lot of India cotton comes from. There are issues with poverty of the farmers and also slave labour that are not simply for an outsider to understand nor to help. For example children being forced into slave labour to pay for a loan on an older cousin's wedding....

China is also dumping cheap product on India and forcing the price of cotton down further for the poverty stricken farmers.

There is also issue of pesticides washing into rivers and potentially causing birth defects.

The embroidery workshops in Mumbai are hand making fabric for Collette Dinnigan, Galliano and more. Lead by Indian business women Shamina Talyarkhan, owner of Shameeza Embroideries , can India weave it's way out of the cheap, fast fashion trap that China fell into by keeping its principles?

Coveted handloomed saris from Kanchipuram are what every Indian bride dreams of wearing. Different coloured thread are intricatedly woven into designs. The heavier the sari, the more expensive- and yes, they weave gold thread.

TIPS FOR BUYING IN INDIA

1) Do your research and be able to recognise the fabrics and methods of production before you shop. Don’t let the salesman tell you Rayon is Silk or that bright red silk dye is naturally made from a stone (nor believe the labels- alot of Rayon has tags that say Silk)!

2) Don’t buy from large showrooms that are recommended by hotels and taxi drivers. The receptionist or driver will get commissions pushing up your price, the showroom charges you top price for which the salesmen gets more than the artisans.

3) Try a tailor or artisan working out of his own store and very small businesses where the salesman is the artisan (They are often sitting on the floor of the store doing embroidery or printing etc). They’ll have a lot of pride in explaining their work honestly, doing an excellent job for you and your money goes directly to the person who deserves it.

4) Look for weaving coops in small villages. You can often visit their workshops or sometimes they are working out of their homes in the village. Also look for NGOs (but check the credentials). They often have programs to employ women in the villages and encourage them to set up bank accounts and send their kids to school etc.

5) Buy the product from the region of India in which it originates. For example, buy Pashmina in Kashmir (not in Kolkatta or Rajasthan). You will get a better deal and quality.

6) Too much politeness is not necessary and maybe seen as a sign of weakness (Hindi has no accurate translation of “Thankyou”). Don’t be afraid to walk out even if they’ve made you a cup of tea and bought out ten thousand items to show you. Don’t be guilted into buy items.

7) Go off-season. In the Hot Season (February to June) the starting price is lower for bartering. During the off-season the tourist industry almost closes but the workshops continue, thus you can negotiate more directly with artisans.

8) Barter down prices. During tourist season barter down by 50%. In off peak the Artisans in small shops tend to start lower so you might only need to get them down by 20% to get a good price.

9) Remember that for every dodgy salesmen or tout there are probably a dozen honest artisans. Your mission is to pay the artisan fairly and buy something you love.

10)Have a sense of adventure! India is supposed to be chaotic and colourful. The beauty of Indian products is worth it.

DID YOU KNOW...

Paisley is a traditional Indian design that was made by hand for hundreds of years by a team of textile workers under the instructions of a master textile superviser. In the 19th century British Colonist embraced this flowery design but it was expensive because of the months of work put in to each few metres of fabric so few could afford it.

Then came the Industrial Revolution and machine made textiles- the fabric was renamed after a British town. The British could do Paisley cheaper and quicker and more and more people could buy Paisley. The result- poverty amongst India textile workers.

In the 1960s the British rediscovered Paisley and it became one of the key images of the swinging sixties in London. Now the Paisley was chemically dyed on synthetic fabrics. Ironically these fabrics at the time meant freedom to women and hippies (no ironing, cheap etc). However, the fabrics are leave a dreadful chemical trail.

These days most Paisley fabric is made in China.

Varieties of Paisley handwoven into Pashmina,wool or silk can still be sourced in Kashmir.

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