Warp 'N Weft Weaving 23 Years

Warp ‘n Weft Weaving 23 years

by Sagrika Rai

The Handloom industry in India is a timeless facet of the rich cultural heritage of India. Importantly as an economic activity, the handloom sector occupies a place next only to agriculture in providing livelihood to the people. The amalgam of art and craft present in Indian handlooms along with their sheer commercial bent makes it an important industry in India.

But the onset of power-looms ended up adversely affecting the weaver community. The livelihood of tens of thousands of weavers and skilled craftsmen in the handloom sector was made more difficult due to this new technology. This was my drive to initiate Warp ‘n Weft in 1997 and overcome these challenges by recognizing the superior craftmanship of the hand and encouraging such weavers and their families to produce their fabrics by redefining their treasured hand-weaving skills. Today ‘handloom’ is the buzz word and ‘Vocal and Local’ is now a movement.

That said production houses continue to churn out fabrics on power-looms and the market is burgeoning with cheaper replicas in polyester yarns in the name of the ‘Handloom Banarasi’. I have always steered clear of this path and refused to cut corners. There are days when I am saddened by my personal interaction with customers who come to Warp ‘n Weft to match fabrics to a dupatta, get a blouse styled to a saree or talk boastfully of a Banarasi lehenga that they purchased at the price of an anti-aging cream; bought at the numerous new Banarasi brands in town or dare I say, even at some reputed multi brand stores. These are often replicas of our designs or other age-old designs in obvious ‘art silks’ and ‘art zari’ and ‘power-loom’ produce.

Compared to the handloom the power-loom can produce a minimum of five dupattas or sarees a day. Do you know where your textile comes from? The so called ‘Chanderi’ or yardage with animal motifs today, the bestseller of some top brands and au courant designers are largely produced by the same power loom machine. While the world speaks of fair trade, are we even safeguarding our legacy of hand weaving? Do we expect the weaver who has put in his lifetime saving a heritage craft to hope for a posthumous reward? At Warp ‘n Weft, we have been continually striving to protect the interests of the artisans and weaving community based in Banaras, whose welfare is realised through providing them fair wages. And we have been silently at it for the past twenty-three years.

Warp ‘n Weft now synonymous with artisanal hand-woven splendour and sheer Banārasipanā. I am proud to say it is also the blueprint for many new companies popping up online and across cities within India and overseas, heavily inspired by our own brand; often claiming to be a branch of the Warp ‘n Weft I have founded. It has now become routine for us to receive enquiries on faux handloom showcased online and to overseas clients by such vendors through social media sites like Instagram and Facebook under our brand name. Indeed, e-marketing has spread its tentacles around customers not fully familiar with our ethos and raison d'être.

What are we doing to safeguard the interest of the customer? Or to create awareness of the real handloom? Is there any initiative by the government that protects the customer’s interests? Is the ‘Handloom’ a movement of authenticity or just a loosely defined term, whose producers and proponents are to be taken advantage of?

We endorse handloom that is purely handwoven right from the dyeing to the weaving process. We take great care to hinge the production of textiles on our ethics, sustainability and social responsibility. While many a brand and companies use ‘handloom’ as their claim to fame, Warp ‘n Weft embraces the principles of ethical production and ‘fair trade’ to preserve the heritage and skills of the weavers who are the backbone of our brand. We authenticate our textiles and sarees as “Warp ‘n Weft Handwoven” which has become a standard by which handloom weavers in Banaras measure and grade their processes. Unfortunately, this does not address the issue of replication and inauthentic fabric produced by more aggressively marketed brands. Warp ‘n Weft values this quintessential craft, giving fair wages to the weaver for his labour of love. We promote this indigenous art to the buyer at an affordable price. This, we think, goes a long way to spread the word of ‘Warp ‘n Weft Handloom’ and ‘Banarasi’. We proudly showcase our textiles on powerful, independent women achievers and often through media and the country’s greatest influencer brigade, Bollywood. Handwoven fabrics have imperfections, often mistaken as ‘defects’, but the process of ‘created by hand’ makes the manufacturing process authentic and traditional. We pour in our creative energies to make our brand as sustainable and ethical as possible. Besides, the classic weaves and motifs have women handing them down for generations.

Fashion is influenced by global trends. At Warp ‘n Weft however we have always been advocates of the slow luxury. Of classics. Our production, however, is demand-based and customised as per client feedback; it does not necessarily lean towards trends in fashion but is inspired by a timeless aesthetic. We regularly take in client requests for colours and design and make changes in coordination with the weavers to optimise production time and control the cost. This extends from making the paper artwork to hundreds of punched cards that eventually get harnessed on a wooden handloom frame. In addition, my team and I personally meet with the weavers to better understand their challenges and set about streamlining the supply chain and production process. This is, in a way, an organic approach that is integral to making a brand sustainable and does not give us five cheap pieces a day but maybe five superior projects a month with a completion time of five months.

To take practice of ethical practice and fair trade forward, we have also set up the ‘Warp 'n Weft Weavers Fund’ that is seeded from part of our sales profit. It is initiated to felicitate the senior artisan weavers who have been the soul of the brand for last two decades and are leaning into their golden years. The scope of the fund will be expanded to cover medical emergencies and education grants for the weavers' highly deserving children. A function in their honour is held every year at Assi Ghat in Banaras, where they are shown our gratitude for their dedication to the craft.

Today it is critical for each one of us to consider how we can each impact the Indian handloom textile industry as it stands right now. How and what we purchase affects the entire ecosystem of our artisans and our country. If we can truly embrace the spirit of ‘vocal for local’ and support our handloom crafts, we as a collective can save an entire industry. And an age-old historic tradition.

Founder Sagrika Rai with Padma Vibhushan Pt. Chhannulal Mishra and Shri. Nitin Gokarn, Principal Secretary to Government Uttar Pradesh at Warp ‘n Weft Weavers’ Felicitation at Assi Ghat, Varanasi.

Guests of Honour Padma Vibhushan Pt. Chhannulal Mishra, Padma Bhushan Pt. Sajan Mishra, Mrs. Bharati Madhok, Director Sunbeam Schools and other renowned guests from Mumbai at Warp ‘n Weft Weavers’ Felicitation at Assi Ghat, Varanasi.