Vastra Katha – An FDCI Showcase at Bharat Tex 2024

The story of Indian textiles is one of the oldest in world history. The earliest known textiles date back to 4000 BC and the coloured & dyed fabrics are documented as far back as 2500 BC. Historically, textile and fashion has been layered and enriched by influences and trans-migration of arts and crafts including handloom. Besides, religious influences at regions of origin have been visible linked to existing rich cultural heritage prior to the foreign invasions. Masterpiece skills and traditions thrived due to exploration and ingenuity of the craftspeople, knowledge and use of locally available material and techniques.

The journey of Indian artisanship also emanated from royal patronage thus creating luxurious weaves and designs. ‘Traditional Indian Textiles’ is a compilation of the different ritual practices categorized on the basis of the production techniques, namely Embroideries, Resist dyed, Printed and Hand-woven textiles.
Under the new era Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership provided impetus to hand spinning and Khadi as ‘swadeshi’ textiles. The mastery of the textile crafts and weaving skills were unparalleled in the Indian context. In the post-colonial period, many techniques were redeveloped and identified by the textile enthusiasts, specialists, researchers and artisans themselves.

“This FDCI pavilion showcases the luxury of weaves made on hand looms with techniques that fashion designers incorporated being mostly handmade and few with machine made, opulent, embellished invoking rich craftsmanship that existed in the Indian subcontinent from the earliest times. The colours, styles and fusion of versatile handcrafted techniques had and continue to be most accoladed in Indian and global appreciations. It is also an initiation towards taking our creativity on a pivot of excellence at the International level in the field of fashion and textile design”.