A feature by Pritisha Borthakur
With exotic tea plantations, wildlife, and rich archaeological sites, Assam’s place among the seven sisters in Northeast India is that of a treasured diamond. But beyond its hilltop temples and silk bazaars, Assam has grown tremendously in recent years to establish a visible spot on the global map. Now emerging as one of the city’s biggest cultural exports, traditional Assamese hand-woven textiles are fast becoming a popular feature on big screens and fashion events, adorning celebrities and regular people alike.
From mekhela-sador to eri shawls, gamocha, and more contemporary designs and forms, there’s a sense of incredible charm and simplicity, coupled with an air of complexity, around the weaves. Handloom weaving has been a part of Assamese socio-economic life for centuries, providing a livelihood for many families and building a cultural identity, trading blocks, and communities where individuals feel at home.
Today, there are a number of thriving brands and individuals championing the cause of Assamese weaves — gaining global recognition and respect — and they’re not stopping anytime soon.
Contemporary champions of Assamese weaves
One of the reasons hand-woven Assamese textiles are accepted across multi-cultural consumers is the contemporary nature of current designs. When it comes to this trado-contemporary fusion, no one does it better than Sanjukta Dutta, owner of Sanjukta’s Studio. Dutta’s imprints have been seen on celebrities like Bipasha Basu, Zareen Khan, Karishma Kapoor, Hema Malini, Esha Deol, and several others attending global events. Even the British Royal, Kate Middleton, was spotted in a Sanjukta outfit in 2015 when she visited the Kaziranga National Park.
She has exhibited her designs at international fashion shows, including the recently held Paris Fashion Week 2023 where she showcased her “Chiki-Miki” collection. She has also featured at the London Fashion Show, the FDCI, and her record-breaking appearance at the Lakme Fashion Week. “I see our tradition as a blessing because me and the team are so blessed with such an amazing craft. It is guiding us towards our own signature and style. It is not every day you see a local or regional culture getting global attention, so we feel blessed to be a part of it.
“Now we’re featured at international events and getting the attention of top celebrities and fashion icons. It’s simply incredible,” she says. Just like Dutta, AVA Creations’ Anu Mandal and Arup Kumar Baishya are two other inspiring ambassadors of Assam’s handloom. However, the duo has gone a step further by establishing the Social Impact Foundation with a mission to promote livelihood opportunities across the value chain of Assam’s sericulture and handloom practices along the forest fringe communities.
Balancing livelihood and conservation is the tough task laid before the brand. Although they started out in 2017 with only 32 women, AVA Creations has now built a network comprising 555 women across the forest regions of Rani, Loharghat, and Garbhanga. Beyond promoting responsible consumption, enhancing the industry’s tourism potential, and revolutionising the handloom sector, the brand has also received stellar commendations from celebrities like the stunning Bollywood actress, Kangana Ranaut.
AVA Creations has created a Handloom Experience Centre in Matia hills and Product Experience Centers at Vivanta Guwahati, Khanapara; Purbashree, Ambari; Craftism, Kaziranga; and NE-SHILP, Rupnagar to attract tourists and textile enthusiasts from across the globe. The centres have become a platform to exhibit and sale the produce.
“We have buyers and ready markets all across India and beyond, even in Singapore, the US, and Bhutan. Although most of our customers are Indian who can’t do without their shawls, sarees, yardages, furnishing, and stoles. There are varieties for men, women, and children, so we’re very concerned about sustainability. That’s why we use only natural fibres like cotton, bamboo yarns, eri silk, muga silk, tasar silk, and mulberry silk. Additionally, our dyes are also 100% natural which have no harmful effect on the environment, and all our products are also biodegradable,” says Baishya.
Building a global culture from the fringes of Assam
Most contemporary handweavers have a long history of family ties with the handloom culture. What makes them stand out is the inclusion of contemporary influences and styles. As the acting CEO of Indian Weavers Alliance, Saumar J. Sharma, the group he heads is a movement determined to show how fashionable handloom can be. “We use and advocate for natural fibres for handloom, including organic cotton, hemp, linen, and silk. For us, it’s about being ‘responsibly fashionable’.
“One of our most popular offerings is the hand-stitched border sarees designed using mulberry silk, tasar silk, eri silk, and 100% cotton. We deal in the B2B category because we’re a large manufacturing setup, so we sell to corporate houses, design houses, retail chains and premium sustainable fashion brands, as well as celebrity resellers,” notes Sharma.
There are others like Anuradha Kuli Pegu, founder of Naturally Anuradha and Naturenomics™ awardee Narmohan Das, who have taken Assamese handloom beyond the boundaries of Northeast India to the rest of the world. As Pegu, who belongs to the Mishing tribe, says, “Naturally Anuradha is a brand that embodies the essence of nature like no other. Every design from my looms is purely organic to satisfy those consumers who crave originality and exclusivity.” Her heritage and upbringing play a major role in how she weaves her fabric; every piece is a reflection of her experiences. “My collections include products like sarees, mekhela chadar, dupattas, scarves, stoles, cushion covers and more made with various fabrics – from eri to muga, nuni, spun silk, and pure cotton. All the threads are 100% vegetable dyed,” she adds.
On the other hand, social entrepreneur and founder of Das Handloom & Handicraft Narmohan Das may not be a weaver, but his signature designs are popular in major cities across the world. Handwoven silk stoles from his collection have an appeal in both the Indian and western market. In fact, sitting pretty in Buckingham Palace is a muga silk weaved carpet made by him.
Das’ fabrics are mostly unembellished, recognised not for motifs and designs, but for their natural look and raw beauty. He has been able to establish a high-end market for ghicha silk (a coarse yarn made from silk waste) in Europe.
Atkinson, an UK-based designer who supplied fabrics to French couturier King of Cling — Azzedine Alaia and Italian designer Romeo Gigli — who also works in luxurious fabrics, once said, “Das’ silks have a raw beauty which are worth preserving and supporting.”
Looking ahead, steadying the course
Hand weaving is a tedious task. It takes a lot of tact and discipline to get every detail and pattern just how it is desired. Thankfully, there are an increasing number of creative designers who have achieved national and global acclaim and projected Assam to the rest of the world. The future looks bright, and with the potential of younger handloom designers coming up, the journey has only just begun.