The magic of handloom
Taking you through some of the behind the scenes of our The Earth Laughs in Flowers collection.
4 years in a row now that we’ve been working with the weavers of Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, India to hand weave fabrics and sarees for our annual festive edit filled with beautiful, comfortable and timeless ethnic outfits for babies, children and women.
Finally this year, after 2 years of pandemic, we got to visit the artisans and spend time with them in February.
YES! That's how early our collection preparations start. In fact it’s been almost 11 months since we started working on this ethnic wear collection.
Here’s sharing some memories from the trip that make me value handloom textiles in an absolutely new light.
We met some of the oldest weavers of the village (who have also worked on our textiles in the past) and their joy and spirit was beyond contagious. Made me relook my attitude to my work.
This trip Eesha from our team travelled with me. She’s young and to see her fall in love with and respect handcrafted textiles and artisans was the most heartwarming thing to witness.
The future of fashion is in good hands!
Meet Krishna Chauhan, maker of our PALASH fabric for the Diwali edit 🧡
What a treat to be able to bring you stories of their lives, their homes. When we were chatting with them and taking their permission to document and share, they were excited and shy.
We showed them pictures of the clothes we make from these textiles and who wears them. But wish we could feedback more to them through your videos and messages about how you enjoy wearing the clothes made from textiles handmade by them.
We really hope in this digital age that’s possible.
Everyone is doing their job.
But sometimes a quick but genuine moment of sharing pieces of our lives in questions like
‘How are you today?’
‘When and how did you start working?’
‘Are you happy?’
gives us a moment of pause and creating space in our hearts to just hold someone’s story or feelings.
Interacting with Nirmala Chauhan was that moment for us ✨
I’ll forever be grateful to Love the World Today for bringing the experience of learning about textiles, valuing them, meeting artisans, exchanging stories of our lives with each other.
And now, meet the maker of this gorgeous pink handwoven fabric - Santosh Yadav from Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh.
She works at the main loom center and walks 5-6 kms to work and home everyday.
She has a beautiful smile and a quiet strength about her. And I think the fabrics she weaves carry that energy.
We can’t wait for you to see, touch and feel these fabrics.
Meet the maker of probably my favourite fabric in our upcoming collection 😬 - Ravi!
Ravi has handwoven this gorgeous textured white fabric with a gold and silver selvedge. He has a handloom setup at home and we spent a lot of time at his house chatting with him.
We had some interesting conversations.
I learnt that his father was a snake catcher and died a few years ago.
Ravi has only known and done weaving all his life.
He has a mother and a younger brother.
While talking to him I felt that he doesn’t think much of his work which also affects his motivation levels to complete weaving projects on time.
Of course like a ridiculous outsider to his life I tried to tell him what handloom textiles mean to ‘me’ and how many families happily celebrate their child’s first Diwali and many more special occasions in life in fabrics woven by him.
Only to realise that I cannot force my thoughts on anyone and I cannot entirely live one’s feelings. I can understand. Empathise. Support. Cheer. Appreciate.
But at the end of the day one has to find value in their own work and in their own life.
It’s the biggest lesson I carried back from that conversation and it somewhere seeped in me the question of ‘what gift do I carry and how do I share it with the world?’
Thank you Ravi. Unknowingly you taught me one of my guiding lessons in life. And I hope you find that worth in yourself too someday. Without external validation.
Meet Jayshree didi, maker of the Lata fabric. I don’t think she realises she is weaving what might be one of our bestsellers.
And as I revisit these memories,
I feel proud.
I feel happy.
I feel excited.
I feel purpose.
I feel oh so ready to share this collection with all of you and hope you’ll receive its simplicity, richness, timelessness and beauty with as much love as we’ve poured into creating it.
I’m convinced this collection is special and carries the kind energy of each of these individuals we’ve met along the way.
Ending this post with the best daal bhaati churma meal we’ve ever had!!
Hand cooked by our master weaver’s grandmother and mother especially for us.
I will never forget the generosity and love with which literally last minute they prepared this elaborate meal and welcomed us to their beautiful home and hearts.
And now you know why I say that this collection carries a special sort of energy?
Like a cosmic, ancestral, kindness filled energy
