India is a land of vibrant festivities and vivid colours
that so fittingly describe the very zeal of this flamboyant country. The image
that India had displayed over the centuries was a mural of diverse cultures,
woven together with the strong yarn of unity. Unfortunately, this rich mural
was unravelled thread-by-thread and discarded as regressive by the British.
However, in the recent years, many individual and firms have made conscious
efforts to preserve the heritage and knowledge that the forefathers of the
country have left behind. The past few years have seen so many cultures,
whether it be dance or music or arts and crafts, celebrated the way they should
be. Celebrating handloom fabrics and clothes, is the studio Samhita.
Samhita is a handloom venture by Oye Trenz, a brand for
fashion and accessories. The handloom fabric industry has been one of the worst
hit by the colonial rule and it is still trying to regain the glory of its
past. It went from being the most dynamic industry, with world-wide demand, to nothingness
with a shift to machine made clothing due to the Industrial Revolution. Mass
fashion shifted from light, airy, infinitely varied, easy to wear clothes to
the monotony of similar, machine made clothing, also known as fast fashion. Samhita
has taken up the initiative to revive the practice of wearing handlooms on a
daily basis. The studio is working towards introducing the concept of ‘slow
fashion’, a move that allows the handloom weavers and artisans to take the adequate
time required for the making of the garments, as opposed to rushing the process
to create more. This emphasises quality over quantity and ensures that the customers
get value for their buck. Handlooms may seem a tad bit more expensive than mass
produced clothing but they are still reasonably priced and after all, the
effort of the person deserves to be acknowledged.
Preservation is in the business of saving communities and the values they embody.
Samhita is also trying to ease in the concept of sustainable
clothing into the market. While a handloom venture is itself a step towards
sustainable fashion, owing to the eco-friendly yarns and the minimum carbon
footprint, the studio introduces a collection of patchwork garments, put
together from the extra fabric that gets wasted. The move combats the problem
of excess waste generated and also brings the best out of the waste.
Oye Trenz took part in the Swadeshi Runway on Monday, 11th
of June, 2018 at the CIDCO convention centre in Vashi, Navi Mumbai with fifteen
models walking the ramp, draped in the beautiful collection that Samhita has to
offer. The collection featured handlooms of Venkatagiri, Mangalgiri,
Pochampally and Kalamkari. There is more choice to pick from, on the racks of
the studio in shop no. 7 and 8, Srinidhi Residency, Sector 50(old), Seawoods,
Navi Mumbai. Alternatively, the collection can also be shopped online through
the social media handles of Oye Trenz on Facebook and Instagram. Do browse the
collection that Samhita presents and take a step towards restoring the glory of
handlooms.
