Published
Jul 17, 2017
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Rare textile crafts given new boost through e-commerce

Published
Jul 17, 2017

Online shopping sites have given previously niche textile such as Telia Rumal a global reach and their sales are picking up again after a long slump.

The Telia Rumal textile is growing in popularity again thanks to e-commerce - Shop Gaatha


The number of e-commerce sites that sell handloom textiles and garments is increasing and sites such as Jaypore, Avishya, iTokri, Gaatha, and Masmara are promoting these rare textiles. This has put hand woven fabrics such as Telia Rumal and Maheshwari textiles on the global market and helped to increase their production once more.

The Telia Rumal textile is woven by hand in Telengana and is a variation on the double ikat weave where the yarn is dipped in oil before being woven into the main textile. This process was dying out as orders dried up but now the industry is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance. Only around 20 weavers still practice the craft but demand has recently picked up by as much as 50 percent for some. Sudha Rani, CEO of Abhihaara, a social enterprise working to sustain traditional crafts, stated that, “earlier I used to get 20 pieces. Now, the weavers are producing around 30 pieces”, and attributed this upturn to e-commerce sites starting to push the textile.

Increased demand for handwoven textiles has led to an increase in weavers’ wages and weavers who previously earned 14,000 rupees a month can now earn around 20,000 rupees. However, despite the demand created by the online retail market, the large scale of the hand weaving sector means that this demand alone is not enough to truly give it new life. Jaypore founder Shilpa Sharma opined that “we need a way to tell the story of our crafts to people abroad” in order to create real demand as, despite zooming capabilities on their website, the true beauty and history of the textiles cannot be fully conveyed. Therefore, demand has increased but in order to insure that these crafts continue, an even high demand is needed. 

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