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Handloom dress materials attracting eyeballs

Once upon a time, handloom attire was regarded as ideal attire for politicians and villagers. Even as mass-market clothing still dominates, it's seeing a revival with demand of handloom dress material being sourced for ethical fashion.

India is among the biggest manufacturers of textiles and apparel in the world supplying leading international brands. But the domestic market being large too, it accounts for more than 40 per cent of the industry's revenue.

The sector is dominated by small and medium-sized firms that are under enormous pressure to reduce costs and produce garments quickly. Many use forced labour, while abuses including withheld salaries and debt bondage are rife, it is gathered.

Wages in India's textile and garment industry are about $1.06 an hour, compared with $2.60 in China, according to the World Bank.

The pressure on margins trickles down to cotton farmers. More than 90 per cent of cotton in India is genetically modified and as those seeds cannot be replanted, farmers have been seen struggling with rising input costs and lower prices for cotton.

Tens of thousands of indebted cotton farmers in the western state of Maharashtra have killed themselves in the past two decades.

It was the plight of these farmers that drove Apurva Kothari, who was working in technology in San Francisco, to return to India and set up apparel brand No Nasties in 2011.

The company sources organic cotton and audits its supply chain to ensure that there is no child labour workers receive fair wages, he observes.

No Nasties and Do U Speak Green are among a handful of Fairtrade-licensed clothing brands in India. They source from producers including Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills which deals in organic and fair trade cotton and pays fair wages and Chetna Organic whose seed conservation project has organic seedbanks from which farmers can withdraw seeds.

They are getting a boost from Fairtrade India, which set up office in 2013, and has stamped its distinct circular logo on a small range of products including tea, coffee, rice and sugar.
It is also working with Amazon India to make Fairtrade-certified products available online.

Working conditions and wages in South Asia's garment industry have come under greater scrutiny since the April 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, in which more than 1,100 workers died.
But efforts of retailers to clean up supply chains will have little impact unless consumers in India demand more ethically produced goods, analysts say.

Brands can take inspiration from success stories including Fabindia. Set up in 1960 to market diverse craft traditions, the company appeals to both young and old consumers, the wealthy and the not-so wealthy.

 
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