January 2020 Edition Apparel January 2020 issue | Page 55

DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT
WHEN AND WHY DID YOU ESTABLISH
TAAKA CLOTHING?
While the industry was learning to grasp the
knowledge of delivering cheaper products
with the same resources year after year, it was
clear that this cycle would break due to the
unsustainability of the model. Competition that
leads to intense cutbacks in costings by increase
in production and methods that are bound to
generate greater waste is like a ticking bomb for
the economy and environment. I was aware of
the diminishing quality of life being led by workers
in garment factories across the globe. So in 2017,
Taaka was born to serve as a solution. Careful
planning of our first collections and budgeting,
along with firming up the policies of our work
environment took us close to 10 months to
develop fully. We have been open and operational
via our own online store since September 2018.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WORK WITH
NEEDLEWORK AND HANDLOOMS AS
A COMBINATION?
Coming from the textile design background,
I have dreamt of khadi to become a fabric of
choice for every human’s basic needs, and not
just a luxury. The fabric is still quite misunderstood
within India to be starchy and of old style.
Recent interventions by the Ministry of Textiles
“I WAS AWARE OF THE
DIMINISHING QUALITY
OF LIFE BEING LED BY
WORKERS IN GARMENT
FACTORIES ACROSS
THE GLOBE.”
and fashion weeks that host and dedicate entire
days to Indian textiles have greatly revived the
fashion circuit. As a designer, I felt it to be my
responsibility to choose khadi or handloom
fabrics made by Indian weavers, whilst paying
them their due.
This led me to meet the team of
WomenWeave, a registered charitable trust in
Maheshwar that has supported and developed
the role of women in handloom-weaving since
2002. Their work in providing ethically produced,
100 per cent certified khadi, and other handloom
fabrics forms the heart of Taaka. In the age of
machine embroideries, digital prints, and zero
human intervention, the concept of juxtaposing
needlework on our khadi did not only seem
appealing but also worked as a means to support
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