Hansiba, 92, will be a global fashion icon!

The Self-Employed Women’s Association (Sewa) has teamed up with Alba Collective, a global circle of prominent professional women, to launch the traditional craft work of Gujarat’s rural women, in the world of high fashion.

Sewa had organised a two-day workshop earlier this week at Radhanpur in Patan district, which was attended by 10 Alba members from Finland and around 70 women artisans from Banaskantha district. The participants at the workshop learnt skills from each other and also exchanged notes on fashion design.

One aim of the workshop was to familiarise the women artisans
with ideas from the world of high fashion, and train them in incorporating those ideas into their own craft work. This would help Sewa promote the artisans’ work among the affluent classes and fetch higher returns for the rural women.

At the workshop, rural artisans skilled in around 19 classic types of craft work or traditional embroidery were taught about quality, design and colour combinations popular in the international fashion market. Alba members said they were planning to come up with a ‘swatch book’ to preserve exquisite craft work.

“When we came to Radhanpur, the participating artisans asked us what had brought us here,” said Jacquline Bhabha, director of committee on human rights studies, Harvard University. “I said we are here to talk collaboration and asked them what they wanted from us. It was nice to hear them reply firmly that they wanted a bigger market for their brand [Hansiba].”

Bhabha said the workshop had facilitated an exchange of ideas and learning of new skills. “While they learnt from us the high-end designs preferred by the affluent classes, we came to understand the skills they had learnt from their parents and grandparents.”

Reema Nanavaty, chairperson of Sewa, believes the collaboration between Sewa and Alba Collective is an important step towards taking the ‘Hansiba’ brand to new and high-end markets in Europe and the US.

The collaboration is Alba’s first venture under its project named, ‘Fashion Human Rights’. Explaining what Alba hopes to achieve through the project, Bhabha said they wanted to persuade fashion houses and established designers to work with rural women artisans. This would enable the artisans to produce craft work that would fetch them higher returns, Bhabha said.  There is another aspect of the Alba project.

As Maarit Salolainen, a textile designer who teaches at the University of Arts Design, Helsinki, explained, the first aspect is, of course the exchange of knowledge and skills between Alba members and rural women artisans. “But another aspect of the project is that we want to help local children in education,” said Salolainen.