Hyderabad, Aug 8 (FN Representative) World Handicrafts Council (WHC) member Bina Rao on Sunday urged the government to look at the tax structure imposed on the handloom sector. Addressing the inaugural two-day event with an aim to spread the message #MyHandloomsMyPride here on Saturday, Ms Rao said weavers are burdened with the tax on raw materials such as yarn, dyes, looms and finished handloom products. Over 3000 people enthusiastically participated in the event and the show attracted many well-known fashion designers and handloom fans.
Weave India, an initiative to support weavers and promote Handlooms concluded today at Roots College of Design, Film and Media in Jubilee Hills here on a positive note. She said youngsters, millennial pursuing Fashion Designing gaining more insight into Arts and Crafts that are extinct. A luminary of the Indian Handloom Sector, Ms. Rao, addressed and inspired a gathering of Fashion Designers, Design Students, Weavers and fans of Handloom Fabric as a Chief. The WHC member said that the Government must make the export process easy and the foreign trade office should have simpler norms for receiving foreign remittances against export from India. To sell our handloom products, the world is the market, she said. This is the time for corporate houses to genuinely use their CSR funds to rejuvenate our Handloom sector, Ms Bina Rao, Co-Founder of Creative Bee, a well-known design studio that has designed for some of the top fashion and lifestyle labels in the country and multi-store retail giants around the world, said.
Ms Rao added that the Ikkat has become the victim of the digital trend. She wondered why traditional skills are being copied in digital. National Handloom Day was my initiative recommended to the Government of India and I am happy that it is now widely observed, she remarked. Mr. Shravan Kumar, Fashion Designer of Shravan Studio, a true fashionista with an unparalleled command of the latest trends and styles and Mr. Aravind Jashua, Fashion, Costume and Crafts Designer of Thrithvaa Khaadi were guests of honour. Addressing the gathering of young Fashion Designers, Mr Arvind said, “Khadi and Handlooms can’t survive without your active involvement. People love talking about Khadi and Handloom but when the time comes to pay for the fabric they go back and make the excuse that it is a cheap fabric. India still has a tradition of weaving unlike many nations, he said. Chairman of Roots Collegium, Mr. BP Padala said.