I remember how the first few lectures I attended in Domus Academy, Milano were about
what made the ‘Made in Italy’ tag so special. In most of our lectures, we were
told that the artisans are the driving force. They make it happen. With the
magical hand work, they make the pieces of the most renowned designers come to
life. It is this craftsmanship that was worshiped so much and gave the ‘Made in
Italy’ tag a deeper meaning.
Every time I would hear a lecture about this, I would think
about my own country, India. We have artisans too… who were called ‘labour’,
‘poor’, needy’, ‘villagers’. That’s the status we are giving them today. Are we
not aware of how tough it is to create such a piece that we often look away
from, just because it is made by a poor person, or doesn’t have a brand name on
it?
I thought about this, I thought about it a lot. My country
has become a country where machine made fabrics/ garments are priced higher
than those that are hand crafted/ hand stitched. How have we come to such a
state? How did we get here? Why did we get here? Who allowed this to happen? We
are simply losing a skill that made our country at one time, recognized. It was
a symbol of our independence. Something that made our country, ‘OURS’. And now
we are losing it.. slowly and gradually. I don’t know if I can say that we are
on our way or have already lost it.
We need to be aware. We need to start respecting these
people who spend days making a few meters of fabric, after working so hard and
not even getting their minimum wages. For this, people from around the world,
travel to India to source and are ready to pay any amount. Places like Europe
where they are worshiped and all the collection depends on them, we are
overlooking the most special people whose works are the most demanded in the
whole world. The craftsman ship is what some brands specifically show off,
calling it ‘insiderism’ and ‘luxurious’.
These people whom we call ‘labour’. These people who
provided us clothing at sometime, now, don’t have any clothes to wear themselves.
We have taken away their jobs. Because we like wearing clothes that are sold in
more expensive shops, with brand names. The clothes, that are also possible to
make on the looms in our country. But we like to buy only when they are
exported to another country, designed, stitched with the tag name of some brand
and then imported back to India. We like it when they have travelled the whole
world and arrive back in India with custom duties. We like to pay more for it. Because then, it has a
foreign name attached to it. It is in line with the
international trends.
So who said this can’t be possible with the fabrics made by
these people who work on the looms sitting here in India?? What’s missing?
The international design aspects from Milano,
‘inspirations’, ‘trends’, ‘Made in Italy’ is now coming to India. It will now
be ‘Made in India’.
Like many other designers who take inspirations
from India and bring them back to their own countries. It is time for role
reversal.
