Since 2015, the 7th of August is now recognized in the year 2015 as National Handloom Day. It is a day that aims to shine a spotlight on the handloom industry in India and to honor the handloom weaver of the nation. August 7 was selected to honor the Swadeshi Movement which was officially declared on this day in 1905 in Calcutta Town Hall.
Business Headers has created five companies which aim to assist handloom weavers in India expand and grow, and market authentic quality, top-of-the-line products in international markets.
Karagiri
In July 2017, the company was founded by Pallavi Mohadikar and their husband Amol Patwari. Karagiri connects with weavers from across India to market their fabric products on its
The Pune-based Karagiri works as part of the startup unicorn Thrasio Mensa Brands. It has more than 2,500 weaver who hail from Banaras (Uttar Pradesh), Bagalkot (Karnataka), Yeola (Maharashtra), and Dharmavaram (Tamil Nadu). It procures high-end silk sarees produced and delivers them all over the world, including countries like India and the US and Australia, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE as well as the Netherlands.
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Apart from selling products on their website, the company also operates a 2,000 sq ft physical store in Koregaon Park in Pune.
Karagiri was established by investing three lakhs and 40 stock-keeping units (SKUs). At present, it has 15,000 SKUs available on its website, spread across various silk categories. It has introduced categories like jewelry and sarees such as Khun and Ilkal which aren’t so well-known but are still in the early stages of being.
Karagiri claims it has exported its products using Mensa’s expertise and technology. At present, exports make up 10% of the company’s revenue, and the remainder is derived through domestic purchases.
As per the firm it is experiencing a massive demand for their products from the Indian diaspora living in the US.
Karigari earned the equivalent of Rs 24 crore last year and hopes to reach more than 50 crore this year.
MySilkLove
Priyanka Ghule Katkar launched MySilkLove, an online platform for silk sarees made by hand in August 2020 in the hope of improving the living conditions of weavers as well as artisans.
The Pune-based startup for ecommerce collaborates with more than 1500 weavers in Banaras (Uttar Pradesh), Bagalkot (Karnataka), Yeola (Maharashtra), and Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu) to procure silk sarees.
At present, MySilkLove sells through its own website. It plans to make its products available through the Myntra and Amazon online marketplaces.
MySilkLove offers more than 5000 SKUs across nine varieties of silks through a single platform. Prices range from between 2,500 and the price of Rs 80,000.
In the past, MySilkLove launched designer lehengasand traditional dresses for women. In the coming year, the company plans to release bespoke gowns, lehengas and sarees.
The company aims to increase its SKUs by 8000.
The store offers video-based purchases, Whatsapp support, and no-questions-asked terms for exchange and refunds.
The company claims to have provided over 15,000 clients to the present and completed more than 250 orders. The venture that was funded using personal savings and is aiming to finish this fiscal year with income of 6 crore rupees.
Aditri Looms and Crafts
The New Delhi-based Aditri Looms and Crafts is an online lifestyle business that launched in the year 2018.
Aditri is an Sanskrit name that refers to goddess Lakshmi offers sarees and jewelry, dupattas, as well as hand-crafted arts and crafts. The company sells its items not just within India but also around the world.
Aditri is a specialist in traditional crafts and arts that are reimagined and reinterpreted to meet the changing preferences of the new generation of customers.
Each product is hand-crafted and comes from artisans from all the states of India. We design exclusive collections that reflect our vision of keeping genuine things in the world alive, says Founding Partner and CEO Bhavna Kohli.
Aditri claims that it has grown at a rate of 55% in the last four years and will hit a total revenue of 2 crore by the end of FY23.
Aditri has over 300 SKUs, across handloom sarees, handmade precious/semi-precious jewellery, and accessories. Aditri collaborates with over 300 artisans, both in both direct and indirect ways, within the GOI-recognised clusters of craft.
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Impresa
Impresa provides ethnic clothing for children as well as women and men and includes Balaramapuram Handloom mundu, sarees, Kurtas, along with Ikat block print and cotton fabric.
The products are through Impresa’s website as well as at stores located in Calicut. Prices range from Rs 250 to around Rs 20,000.
In the last 10 years of operation Impresa has collaborated with around 300 artisans in Kerala, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Impresa has completed more than 50,000 online orders thus far.
Working in the handloom industry is an occupation that requires perseverance. If you’re seeking to create businesses to make money, then handloom isn’t the industry for you, said the founder of Impresa Anjali Chandran during an earlier conversation with Business Headers
An BITS Pilani graduate and ex-software engineer from Wipro, Anjali became a social entrepreneur in the year 2012.
Anjali’s efforts in establishing Impresa have been recognized worldwide. As of 2017, Impresa received a mention in the top top ten global social-media startups in the world by Capegemini, Paris. In the next year Anjali was invited to serve as an Indian delegate to participate in the US department’s top professional exchange program, the International Visitor Leadership Program. Anjali was also a part in The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women programme at the NSRCEL IIMB.
The Loom Art
The Jaipur-based company creates clothing which are at the crossroads of handloom, art as well as sustainability. It is aiming to bring back old and dying craft methods and create clothes that will last for a lifetime.
The Loom Art was started in 2017 by Aarushi Kilawat who wanted to promote slow fashion and offer the best value to producers and consumers. The business is a collaboration between local artisans and eco-friendly materials to conserve art and protect the environment.
The art of The Loom Art stands for the fundamental hand embroidery we make. We mostly collaborate with Kantha as well as Sujini. My conception for design would be that this is a form of communication that allows you to relate stories. These craft projects have stories attached with them. said Aarushi in a previous encounter with Business Headers
Kantha has been around for centuries as a, traditional embroidery technique that grew out of the petty lifestyle of rural women from Bengal. This art form known as Sujini originates from Bihar which can be traced back to silky, embroidered quilts created for babies during the 18th century.
The company works with more than 20 clusters of craftsmen located across the country. Each cluster contains around eight weavers.
The company’s products are available on its website as well as on various fashion marketplaces like Aza Fashions, Pernia’s Pop-up Shop, Ogaan, Tata Cliq and Nykaa. The company also hosts pop-ups.
The Loom Art collections are available through Ounass in the UAE, Omi Na-Na in the UK, Rue Saint Paul and The Klazet in the US as well as Ammarah Collective in Canada.
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Aarushi began the business with the help of a loan of 25 lakh from the Bank of Baroda, under an initiative for women entrepreneurs. The company was initially run by a team of four , comprising an embroidererer, a tailor and an administrator. She also took out a loan of 25 lakh for 2020 in order to ramp up the business.
