Here Comes New Generation Weavers: E-Commerce, Wider Product Range, Innovations In Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The new generation of handloom weavers in Madhya Pradesh are innovating and evolving with changing times. They are using social media and ecommerce websites to get bigger and wider market for their products.

They are also expanding their product range and coming up with new designs to draw young buyers.

The weavers of Maheshwari and Chanderi, the two traditional weaves of the state, say they wouldn’t survive if they didn’t change with times. Waseem Basheer who lives in Maheshwar (Khargone district) inherited the Maheshwari weaving art from his grandfather and father.

“I now produce fabric in collaboration with textile designers from Mumbai and Delhi. They provide designs to us and we produce the fabric,” he says.

He has expanded his product range, which was earlier limited to saris, to include dupattas and stoles. He now markets his product through Fab India and also uses Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to reach out to new customers. “My products are also bought by re-sellers who market them among NRIs in Europe and the USA,” Ansari added.

National Award winner craftsperson Mohammed Bilal Khatri from Bagh in Dhar district is coming with his own e-commerce website. “Our experience of selling through Amazon was not pleasing,” he said.

Bilal’s Bagh-printed Maheshwari and Chanderi sarees are also sold through online and offline stores of Reliance Trends and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. His product range includes saris, stoles, dupattas and salwar suits.

“The NRIs mostly go for saris but the foreigners prefer stoles and salwar suits,” said Bilal who represents third generation of his weaver family.

Devendra Koli from Chanderi is the fourth generation of Chanderi fabric weavers. His father and grandfather weaved yarn provided by Sethji, earning a small amount as wages.

He has formed a WhatsApp group on which he posts pictures of his products. “I do get direct orders. We also weave the designs supplied by customers,” he says.

Vast range

Bhopal’s fashion designer Mumtaz Khan produces a vast range of Chanderi products including skirt, lehenga, kurta, garara, sharara, gowns, Anarkali suits, jackets and coats besides bridal attire.

“We design formal wear using cotton Chanderi and party wear using silk Chanderi,” he says. An Australian NRI family had recently placed an order with him for a double tissue bridal dress using Chanderi fabric with Bagh and zardozi work.

At the recent Global Investors Summit organised in Bhopal and WAVES in Mumbai, models walked the ramp wearing Chanderi and Maheshwari saris with Bagh print, he said.