Kerala’s handloom community needs to batten down the hatches

As pandemic has remarkably afflicted the handloom sector in India, some entrepreneurs and designers are relentlessly working in association with the weavers of Kerala in order to restore the lost vigour and potential of the handlooms.

Save the loom is one such attempt by Founder Ramesh Menon who approached the weavers at At Dhoby Khana in Veli, Fort Kochi with the conviction that all production of “stiff finish” sarees could be done in and around Chendamangalam, currently the firm features 12 designs in 24 variants (colour, reversibility and so on). Natural dyes extracted from the flora of Kerala are used to color these sarees. There are two variant namley Olam and Amalda focus on this aspect of the creative chain, the initiative provides employment to many local artisans who were led astray amidst pandemic.

Not a many years ago, clacking of thousands of looms could be heard in and around Chendamangalam when handlooms were functional in their thorough weal.Now now, the number of weavers has reduced from 6,000 to a staggering number in few hundred. There is a vast potential in Indian handloom stipulating the weavers are trained and equipped with infrastructure to create contemporary design with traditional techniques of weaving.

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