A Bird's-eye View

Heer Kothari exploring the potential of hand-woven goods in the virtual space, in an insightful exchange with Nitin Pamnani, founder of iTokri.com

- Heer Kothari

The Indian textile industry contributes up to 14% of the total CAGR. The industry occupies a special place employing up to to 4.3 million people (approximately), directly or by allied means. The textile industry is the second largest provider of employment after agriculture, especially in the rural premises of the country. In recent years with e-commerce giants taking over the retail space, production from modern textile mills, independent power looms and garments, are enjoying a profitable position in national and global markets.

However, the handloom industry silently suffers the onslaught of the industrial revolution and the successful innings of the e-commerce models, inspite of producing a total of 19% of fabric in the country.

E-COMMERCE ISSUES

Nitin Pamnani, founder of iTokri, India’s first online e-commerce model which caters to the handloom fabric, states, “The e-commerce business thrives on an inventory model where pieces are produced by the thousand. On the other hand, the Indian handloom production is an art form, which is indeed difficult to replicate. Even if you try to, at least 15%-20% of the design will deviate from the original piece.” This means that every handloom product is photographed as soon as it’s purchased from the weavers. The variety in the output (in terms of design and style, and even fabric) produced by Indian artisans is varied.