Colloquium paper

WEAVING THROUGH TIMELESSNESS Craft Based Colloquium Paper

By Leena Jain

Khaddar before Gandhi Before ‘Khaddar’ became the Khadi we know of today, it had an identity of common cloth, but with varied qualities. Known to be the nebula for Romans, the hand-woven textile was often exported from India before colonization. Soon, the British levied taxes on farming, export and weaving, leaving the production of Khadi on a standstill and introducing cheaply made British clothing as one of a ‘higher’ taste. India, an exporter of fine fabric, became an importer of the same.

Gandhi’s intervention Gandhi had been a socially awkward young man and always wanted to blend in. While studying in the UK, he did adorn perfect English gentleman clothing and also burdened his family with the European way of living after returning back to the country. Only his encounters in South Africa, led him to see the life of discriminated Indians, making him question reality of colonial power. He tried living through self-reliance. On his return to India, he travelled the length and breadth of the country to seek the truth of how people had been living. There was poverty and hunger – because of a lot of factors including industrialization brought in by colonial rule, leaving many crafts, techniques and practices obsolete. ‘Khadi’ had become a foreign concept and then Gandhi sought to weave everyone through it – making it a mark of being ‘Indian’ – like a uniform of sorts which went beyond traditional marks of faith, caste and community. Starting with a cap – the sola cap transformed into a ‘bhartiya’ shape (Tarlo, 1996). The cap was light and airy – and bound everyone in together as everyone needed a cap at all times.

Identities Khadi adorned while acting as a patriotic attire Khadi was the fabric uniting the nation, while the diversity of the nation gave Khadi different identities and stories, some fascinating to take the craft of spinning and weaving forward, some detrimental to it. As Khadi became a strong factor of patriotic definition, it became a constant vote-bank for politicians who chose to wear mill made clothing under the rough Khaddar. Khadi became a ‘middle’ class cloth when there was no ‘middle’ class in India – too rough for the rich, too dear for the poor(Gonsalves, 2012). Others thought of Khadi being a fabric that would get us back to our ‘savage’ roots, and the elite were socially anxious about re-Indian-izing their attire and to what extent they could simplify.

Religious coding, gender aesthetic, European silhouettes came into picture as dyeing in colour began (with Muslims dyeing their white Khaddar green), women needed an aesthetic appeal to the plain white Khaddar which could easily give them the status of a widow – for which embroidery, decorative arts, Khadi silk came into picture(Tarlo, 1996).

Identities Khadi adorned while acting as a patriotic attire Khadi was the fabric uniting the nation, while the diversity of the nation gave Khadi different identities and stories, some fascinating to take the craft of spinning and weaving forward, some detrimental to it. As Khadi became a strong factor of patriotic definition, it became a constant vote-bank for politicians who chose to wear mill made clothing under the rough Khaddar. Khadi became a ‘middle’ class cloth when there was no ‘middle’ class in India – too rough for the rich, too dear for the poor(Gonsalves, 2012). Others thought of Khadi being a fabric that would get us back to our ‘savage’ roots, and the elite were socially anxious about re-Indian-izing their attire and to what extent they could simplify.

Religious coding, gender aesthetic, European silhouettes came into picture as dyeing in colour began (with Muslims dyeing their white Khaddar green), women needed an aesthetic appeal to the plain white Khaddar which could easily give them the status of a widow – for which embroidery, decorative arts, Khadi silk came into picture(Tarlo, 1996).

Identity of Khadi after independence Khadi became a symbol of hypocrisy adorned by politicians for vote-bank politics, mill made clothing industry prevailed as the governments believed in industrialization for the economy instead of the sustainable one that ‘Swaraj’ recommended. A token of discount as subsidy was given to the Khadi industry, however the spinners and traditional weavers have been left with no work or pay. Most started working on clothing mills as ‘labourers’ instead of ‘craftspeople who exercised their own aesthetic’. Khadi identity turned simply as an anachronistic wear which was kept alive by some Gandhi followers and artists.

The 2000s were an interesting period, when a group of designers, primarily Martand Singh, started to work on the Khadi textile and held an exhibition called ‘Khadi, the fabric of freedom’, after which many designers have used Khadi as a part of their collections, and the Make in India initiative also led to many new Khadi based brands to come up with their own identities of Khadi.

Khadi, as it is today Khaddar is reminiscent of the Gandhian philosophy, and it is spread across many parts of India, Gujarat being a major centre for production and retail. The Khadi Village and Industries Commission is a governmental platform that supports many organizations under them to function, produce and innovate in Khadi. The Udyog Bharti in Gondal, Gujarat is one major centre for production, development and retail of Khadi textile. While most of their fabric production is for brands like Arvind retail who would guide them with requirements, some pieces are their original production. According to Chetan bhai, the weaving unit supervisor, analysis of what the consumers are picking up from the stores – the stripes, the checkered fabrics or ones that are plain, that is their colloquial way of forecasting

through which they decide what works and what doesn’t. Moreover, the designers and tailors they collaborate with, also create what is hot selling in the consumer markets. Mr. Chandrakant added that they are looking for someone who understands Khadi, and the retail market who could give the weavers new stories and themes to work on, collections they could create. Gondal town is known to be a model for Khadi organizations and innovation platforms.

Khadi and the varied kinds of charkha and yarns are on display at the Sabarmati Ashram and Kochrab Ashram in Ahmedabad. The Sabarmati Ashram goes on to have a store where the clothes are sourced from Grahlaxmi to institutes that teach self-reliance by the meditative act of spinning the charkha and deriving the yarn.

The collections were quite similar – with silhouettes like kurtas, palazzos, tailored coats – the Nehru and Modi jackets. What has also risen ‘Khadi’ as a textile is the mention by the Prime Minister in his many speeches, as added by Mr. Chandrakant Patel(Gondal) – which stands true for increase in Khadi retail in both private and government outlets. Continuing my enquiry, I visited the well-known Prayog Samiti, Ahmedabad for more information on innovation in Khadi. While currently working on a 16 spindle charkha, the institution had worked on Khadi textile innovations, from 1998 to 2004 – where they’ve worked on denim Khadi, Khadi on a Jacquard Loom, home furnishings, strips, checks and net-like patterns.

The private brands followed, with a close look at Buna Clothing, 11.11, red sister blue, runaway bicycle, the cotton rock, nature alley, Khadi and co. – all with a different identity of Khadi – from slow design and hand – woven identity to the ‘patriotic’ identity, to ‘simple and sustainable’ – Khadi is enjoying many identities simultaneously, none going obsolete.

Timeless - A Khadi Forecast As the ‘study’ of identities concluded, there began a quest for searching new identities. As I recall how the Udyog Bharti Organization at Gondal appreciated new ideas for Khadi, the spinners, the weavers and as a retail outlet - an inspiration reckoner would help them to think, evolve and create keeping their traditional knowledge and practices intact yet relevant in the current context.

The next few days, I kept my eyes and ears open – having read much about Khadi the evolution, there were many dots I connected. With a key – word ‘timeless’, I began exploring possibilities in broad themes that are timeless in their own rights.

Ideation Timeless was the key-word and the title for new stories, and how they would be showcased is still a question – whether it could be a forecast book, a magazine, a combination of the two? I kept coming back and forth with the ideas – thinking through the pros and cons of each combination. While a magazine would cater to the mass, and the forecast to the creator – what is really required – when the forecast covers the ‘timeless’ trends that already have a ‘need’ – it made the magazine illogical, and I stuck to creating a Khadi forecast termed, timeless, a mock to the time-bound fast fashion industry where ideas and attire go obsolete every season.

Finalizing Themes The themes I chose had their own reasoning related to Khadi, feminism relates to the battle against discrimination and towards an equal tomorrow – similar to the Indian freedom struggle when Gandhi unified the country with Khaddar, the old city of Ahmedabad relates to heritage and its progression, a lot like Khadi and its progression. Spaces in the heritage city have evolved and so has their identity and utility, parallel to how the humble Khaddar has evolved to a fashion fabric.

Zero waste is about the fact that nothing ever goes waste when you use every part of the cloth and urban farming relates to producing your own grain or fabric! Kulhad and Yoga talk of the very basic lifestyle we’ve led since our ancestors – whether it is in the ‘movement’ of Yoga – that the inspiration of weave can be taken, just like Yoga, there is constant meditative consciousness, Kulhad is about the importance of the Earth, soil and its nutrients – and the practice of the craft. Colour is all about natural dyeing, using pigments from the nature, without any interference from the industrial world.

Slow food, like slow design is about the right produce, and personal attention to each step, just like in Khadi – from handpicking cotton, hand-spinning and weaving it to tailoring it to a ‘personal’ size.

Conscious travel talks about those who are wanderers with a purpose and how Gandhi was one too when he travelled across the country seeking truth and reality before strategizing to weave the country together. Diversity talks about the many diverse cultures that exist, their adaptations and responses to the same material, whether it was women embroidering on plain white khadi to be not identified as widowed or Parsi folks wearing Khadi in European silhouettes.

As I set these themes, I planned to acquire some fabric samples to give an idea of what is existing and what could be further done. A great place was Asal in Ahmedabad, a sustainable store, with organic clothing and food products, that worked on sunlight and lamps. A brief talk with Shripal Shah, the owner at Asal, led me to have a new view for sustainable development and Khadi as a common cloth, yet exclusive! The fabric samples were organic, naturally dyed and innovative in their approach – from checkered weave to jamdani, soon to be a part of the forecast.

Story write-ups, forecast setting and target audience review These themes were derived from constant reading, awareness and a link to the secondary and primary research in place which helped me link themes and their relevance to Khadi. Moreover, I then worked on the forecast by looking at ones used in the fast fashion industry – like Promostyl and Textile View, just to get a brief idea of how depictions are done and indications are picked. Then I spoke to students in the fashion and textile design departments to know their interactions with forecasts, and how they use one, with that I tried taking them over all my topics – as just the quick rough write-ups to give a hint of what they pick, how they analyse these terms, to develop my own understanding of what could be depicted.

Mood-boards, Colour story and illustrations With an independent survey of responses to the keywords and story by some fashion and textile design students, I worked on my understanding and theirs to work on visuals that gave indications and opened new ways of thinking for anyone who uses the forecast. With a mood-board that featured visuals, illustration and fabric swatch clips and colour board that gives the many shades that go with the story, the forecast is a ready reckoner for development in new identities for Khadi.

Conclusion In India, we don’t allow time to decide what goes obsolete, especially in clothing – it instead gets inherited and passed on, the attire becomes special, often an identity of the community. Khadi is a versatile fabric, can be weaved with fibres that are naturally waterproof, warm or have other properties, making the fabric one that truly gives timeless ‘freedom’. Let us then weave and adorn timeless themes of the Khaddar.

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