Handspun, Handwoven – Two Stories — Maiwa Clothing — Artisan Cloth
Traditional handloom is a remarkably flexible technology. Handloom permits weaving from fibres too fine to be handled by industrial mills. The mechanism of the loom (almost always worked with bare feet) permits the weaver to judge by feel when it is too damp, or too dry to continue working with hand spun cotton.
KALA COTTON
FIRST STORY
Cotton grows naturally in India. Up until the 1750s two indigenous varieties predominated: Gossypium arboreum (known as “tree cotton”) and gossypium herbaceum (known as Lavant cotton). Unlike conventional cotton, these varieties were native to the region and were well adapted to the climate. These fibres show up in textiles from the Kachchh region dating back thousands of years.
More importantly, these local varieties were ecologically sustainable. They had adapted to low water requirements and extremely arid conditions. However, they did not integrate well with industrial machinery and so were neglected. Today these “old world” cottons are being revived and incorporated into handmade textiles where they are once again appreciated as the fibres that can be spun into the threads that make the most exquisite cotton cloth.
KHADI
SECOND STORY
Khadi is a handwoven cloth made from handspun threads. But khadi is so much more than simply a beautiful fabric. It is an idea of cultural self-sufficiency with deep roots in the Indian identity.
In its essence, khadi is a fabric created through personal labour without industrial machinery. Khadi thus harkens back to the centuries when India produced some of the world's most prestigious cloth. But with it’s emphasis on manual skills and hand production, khadi also had a central role to play in countering the displacement of family life that took place during industrialization and British colonization.
Mahatma Gandhi saw khadi as a way to break India’s dependence on British manufactured cloth. As part of the non-violent freedom struggle, Gandhi understood that a return to hand-made cloth would strike an economic blow to Great Britain (India is one of the largest markets in the world) while empowering the Indian public with a sense of self that could be achieved by all.
Gandhi’s urging to boycott British imports and mill-made fabric, and for everyone to spin and weave their own cloth, is now well known. The effect of the Swadeshi (homerule) movement had the side-effect of slowing the erosion of traditional Indian hand production – especially weaving. Because “homespun” had played an important role in creating national identity, India’s craft sector continued to privilege traditional materials and methods. Handloom was encouraged and promoted.
THE BHUJODI WEAVERS
For over twenty years Maiwa has been working with Bhujodi weavers. The Vankar community of Bhujodi, India, has held steadfast in their belief that handweave matters: that skill can be taught, maintained, and improved; and that each time you warp up a loom, you are given the opportunity to express yourself in thread. Located in the Kachchh desert region of Gujarat in westernmost India, the Vankar family has been working with traditional weaves for many generations. In the last decade these far-sighted weavers have dedicated themselves to the use of natural dyes. Now the Vankars are as talented in dyeing as they are in weaving. It's an unbeatable combination of exceptional skills.
To our U.S. customers – don't forget that the exchange rate works in your favour, it's like an extra discount.
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