Retro route to weave revival in northeast

GUWAHATI: A group of fashion designers from different part of Northeast have got together to revive the dying traditional dresses and textiles of the various ethnic tribes of the Northeast like Singpho, Tiwa and Khamti.
The group consisting about 15 designers from different part of Northeast have studying the traditional costumes and textiles of these tribes which are on the verge of extinction.The reason for this is that these tribes now prefer weaving the Assamese 'mekhla chador' rather than weaving their dresses as they feel these outfits doesn't have demand in the market unlike the traditional Assamese dresses.
Nayan Baruah one of the designers said "The traditional dresses of the Tiwa tribe like the Kasong, Tangla, Jaskai, Phana etc are soon going into oblivion as these are not being weaved anymore. The weavers don't know about the traditional designs and motifs and thus they are losing interest in their own traditional outfits and designs."
She adds " Another reason for this is that, these traditional wear do not have much demand in the national and international market as the 'acrylic thread' used in weaving the costumes are not considered eco friendly, and thus they do not find much takers outside."
Sanjiv Ninkhi, a weaver from Margherita said "We have been living in Assam and we have seen that the demand for the mekhla chador is huge here. But for our traditional outfit, we do not get buyers outside our community, so I feel its natural for us to start weaving mekhla chador."
But, now the local weavers are being trained by the team of designers who are teaching them to go beyond the synthetic and acrylic thread and use cotton fabric and thread which are more eco- friendly, so that the costumes can be sent for export purpose too.
"If the outfits can be marketed well, then they are definitely going to capture the export market very soon and so we are trying our best to bring out other traditional designs and motifs which have already got lost." she said.
" It is surprising to see that the new generation of weavers do not even know about some of their traditional designs and motifs, so we are trying to collect all the designs first and then we would train them to use the alternative fabric." she said.