Why Indian Artisans have failed to become Brands of their own?
A long-living tradition of Indian artisans have failed to receive the deserved recognition, but most importantly why haven't they been able to turn into a luxury brand of their own?
Welcome to the land of “Karigaro Ki Kalakari” — India! Karigar comes from an Urdu word meaning “craftsman” while Kalakari– holds synonym to their commendable “craftsmanship”.
Handicraft artisan constitutes to be the second-largest employment group in India after agricultural workers. Exclusive artisanship and embroidery have always been the forte of India. An extensive workforce of approximately 22 lakhs craftsmen caters to the strong local and global demands for garments embellished with embroideries.
The country is one of the world’s largest garment exporters, with a textiles market worth $150 to $250 billion, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation, a trust established by the Indian government’s commerce ministry. By 2019, India’s embroidery exports exceeded $230 million, a nearly 500 per cent increase from two decades ago, according to the government’s commerce ministry.
What makes Indian craftsmanship unique?
Embroidery traditions in India represent an intoxicating mix of its heritage, culture and craftsmanship. It is an amalgamation of ancient influences drawn from silk route trading, Persian invasion, centuries of internal migration, trade with China and diverse local-cultural beliefs.
Techniques such as embroidery on leather with real gold thread, gossamer fine chikankari, zardozi, fareesha, aari and resham threadwork are part of a vast repertoire of craft techniques still practised across India. This is what exemplifies the term “Haute Couture” — a skill taken to its heights in terms of technique, craftsmanship, design, material and exclusivity.
India plays a central role in European luxury when it comes to their iconic embroideries. Export ateliers like Maximiliano Modesti, Chanakya International, Milaaya Embroideries cater to the embroidery needs of major luxury houses like Chloé, Hermès, Dior, Balmain, Ralph Lauren, Fendi, Alberta Ferretti, Saint Laurent, Giambattista Valli, Prada, Valentino, Céline, Gucci and Loewe.
Western designers have brought some of their most important embroidery work to India in recent years. Contemporary designers, like Dries Van Noten and Isabel Marant, have actively celebrated their work with highly skilled Indian artisans as part of their brand stories. Alessandro Michele’s exuberant collections for Gucci, emblazoned with tigers and butterflies has been one of the iconic deliveries.
We all remember one of the most memorable catwalk moments of 2019 as Jennifer Lopez sashayed down the Milan runway in Versace’s jungle print dress. However, what we don’t recall or question is about the artisans behind it! Sitting in a studio, the embroiders of Mumbai, unaware of the glitz and glamour in the far foreign-land, create a symphony which the world adores. An item that breaks the internet sometimes fails to allow the artisans to break their daily bread!
A few of the recognizable work of Indian artisans can be seen on the book clutches by Olympia Le-Tan; the lavender feathered spherical dresses at Jeremy Scott’s Moschino show during Milan fashion week Spring/Summer 2018; the patchwork embroidered or beaded Christian Dior saddlebags for Autumn/Winter 2018.
What stands common among all these creations? They have all gone through the expert touch of highly skilled Indian embroidery artisans.
Why do luxury brands outsource the craft from India?
“Today the only ones who can still afford to do their embroideries in France are Chanel and Hermès, that’s all. All the others, it’s finished,” claims Maximiliano Modesti, the founder of Les Ateliers 2M, a luxury embroidery company in Mumbai.
“Europe has high degrees of creativity, but these days fewer and fewer possess craftsmanship knowledge,” says Karishma Swali, managing director of family-run company Chanakya.
Many of us continue to misinterpret such observations to mean that the only reason embellishments are outsourced to India by Made-in-France or Made-in-Italy luxury brands is to cut costs. This, however, is only one aspect of the story. While cost is certainly is an important consideration, another is having garments embellished in India can yield superior results. India, with its centuries-old traditions of craft and incredibly high levels of artisanal excellence, is an obvious alternative.
Irrespective of such high demands the artisans still suffer….
Unlike in China, basic rights such as an employment contract are not enforced in India. Legal entitlements, too, are not enforced.
Long and demanding working hours, lower wages summing to nothing more than Rs.13,000 ($170) and poor working conditions are the prices Indian artisans pay for their incredible skill. Quite ironical!
“Wonderful artisans stand in queues for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MNREGA) scheme to get minimum wages,” said the then Commerce and industry minister — Nirmala Sitharaman, 2017.
Factors that lead to the poor conditions of Indian artisans:
Always a server, Never the owner
Indian artisans have existed much before the Western artisans and have surpassed in quantity if not in quality. Luxury is strong in West as local artisans are rare considering some professions are now disappearing.
Historically a few artisans in the West took over their client which helped them convert their family names into now existing luxury brands. These artisans were merely not the suppliers to the court — but were indispensable governing and dictating the terms of couture and lifestyle.
However, in India, there has always existed an important tradition of service. Indian’s loved to be served. This has made it one of the underlying reasons why artisans still remain as executors and not as prescribers. India has not yet reached the post artisans stage of development concerning to the luxury industry. Hence, they have failed to be a brand of their own and continue to remain at the mercy of the middle giants.
Oversupply leading to the easy availability
The glut of excellent artisans at easily accessible rates have made us undervalue their skills both in terms of appreciation and cost. Indian designers have always had easy access to intricate craftsmanship, especially when it comes to embroideries, weaves, printing and dyeing techniques.
Several Indian atelier exporters, when interviewed concerning this topic, confirmed that the cost of producing luxury embroideries in Europe would be around ten times higher than what they can produce in India.
This is one of the major reasons why — industrial goods in India are considered of a higher value as compared to the artisan’s craftsmanship.
Interestingly the most often searched keywords with respect to luxury in the Indian market is restricted to luxury cars and men’s watches. — A Mercedes, BMW, Rolex, is far more searched than couture pieces often by Chanel or Dior — because of the mindset of the easily available crafts.
No recognition and respect
In India, we have no shortage of incredible artisans. What we lack is the marketing prowess to bestow value onto ordinary lives that have extraordinary skills. In our given system, we have taken for granted that there is no room for big brands to acknowledge every individual involved in the making of a garment. However, what is required is the recognition of the important role of Indian craft that it plays in Europe’s luxury industry. In the digital age, where globalization has penetrated more than ever, the consumers should be made aware of the handwork seen on the world’s catwalks and red carpets pass through the deft hands of India’s most skilled embroiderers and artisans.
“One of the biggest issues in India is that our markets do not recognise the true value of craft. When this value is recognised, and if people are willing to pay a higher price for craft-based products, this should translate into higher wages for weavers and craftspeople and act as a boost to millions of rural-based livelihood opportunities associated with this sector,” said William Bissel, managing director of Indian ethical clothing manufacturer FabIndia, in the Dasra report.
Considering all the given reasons, the most crucial one that always remains constant is the illiteracy of these artisans. The unaware and innocent masses usually fall into the mercy of the bigger giants as they still lack the ability to access the benefits of digital knowledge and also an understanding of the pace at which the world functions.
Current Situation
“There are three motivating factors [for luxury brands],” says Ashok Som, Professor and Global Strategy Director of the EMILUX programme at France’s ESSEC Business School. “Diversifying their supply chain, global sustainability issues haunting the luxury brands vis-à-vis high ethical considerations that the brands [aim to] represent, and a shortage of highly-skilled craftsmen globally.” Given loopholes in European countries origin laws, luxury brands are able to umbrella themselves under “Made in France” or “Made in Italy” provenance for fashion items which in reality have only been finished in Europe. But “For How Long?”.
Here the crucial discussion goes far beyond than simply aligning the brands business motivations with social consciousness. There is more to giving credits to the Indian artisans and making a trivial effort towards their upliftment. Their needs to be a considerable effort rather than merely being transparent about where items were embellished, perhaps even creating a special mark to designate embroidery done in India.
The real question is whether the French and Italian luxury brands are ready yet to promote the work of artisans from outside Europe. Whether these artisans will ever become a part of the brand’s storytelling and an integral element to the brand’s DNA.
Conclusion
“Many young people don’t want to follow in their parents’ footsteps, seeing craft as having less status and social mobility than…an Uber driver. Why would so many skilled workers want to leave unless there was an inherent lack of recognition and respect for their work?” asks Ritu Sethi, chairperson at the Craft Revival Trust, a not-for-profit NGO established in 1999.
Undervaluing Indian artisans has not only been a European luxury brand’s practice. It is a custom which very much began at home (India). We have failed to appreciate and justify their art. It is also majorly a dilemma endemic in the country because of its hereditary caste system, reinforced by the damaging marginalisation of its large Muslim minority — many of whom work in the apparel and textiles industry.
We Indians, have let out farmers down- an industry that serves as a backbone to our economy. And now, we are doing it to our artisans, who are integral not only for preserving the heritage skill but also a potential source of financial gains.
I resent believing if Artisans are the next aftermath. We either lose the craft forever, or gradually lose it to the international world, either ways, we have again failed to realise the value of the blood and sweat of true craftsmanship.
However, with initiatives like “Make in India” and “Go Local”, and constant efforts of a few individuals, the much-needed awareness might create conscious shift amongst the audience.
India needs to now take ownership of this issue and question — Can we truly HONOUR the HANDS that builds the world of luxury?
