INDIA has richest histories of textile production, spanning around 5,000 years and Indian hand -woven fabrics are renowned for their sheer weaves and elaborate patterns. The Government of India has taken a number of initiatives for the development and promotion of the handloom sector, one of it being the organizing of ‘Handloom Week’ (an initiative by Ministry of Textiles & NEIFT) in December every year beginning this year.

 

Inaugurating a week long affair Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran said, “Handloom is the second largest sector which represents the continuity of age old Indian heritage of hand-weaving and 425 clusters have been adopted by Ministry of Textiles for holistic development and welfare of handloom weavers and allied workers”.During the ensuing Handloom Week, to encourage weavers to sell directly to consumers, various theme-based expos, fairs, crafts melas and exhibitions are organized to promote the marketing of handloom products, added the Minister.

 

To encourage the weavers fashion show, ‘Symphony in Weaves- The Handloom Ensemble’ showcased exclusive handloom products and  exhibited the skills of Southern Fresco, Vibrant West, Northern Mosaic, Mystic East & Exotic north-east. The Fashion Designers from NEIFT and the textile designers of the clusters together created , various traditional & diversified products of innovative & contemporary designs in the Handloom Sector which is well accepted both in the domestic and international markets.

 

Opening of this remarkable tradition of vibrant, hand-woven and handcrafted textiles witnessed some eminent people from the industry viz, Ms. Rita Menon, Mohd. Azharuddin, Shabana Azmi, Ritu Kumar,Sunil Sethi,J J Vallaya, Nitin Bal Chauhan, Samant Chauhan,Vikram Rai Medhi, Madhu Jain, Dhruv & Pallavi, Joy Mitra, Charu Parasher and many more.