With an eye to help the handloom artisans in the south Indian State of Tamil Nadu to get acquainted with the changing market requirements and exercise a firm foothold in the field, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Chennai, has undertaken a Design Development Project together with the Directorate of Handloom and Textiles.

Pursuant to the project, NIFT is creating some 700 contemporary, marketable designs for home furnishings and sarees, which would be presented to artisans in handloom clusters in Virudhnagar, Erode, Coimbatore and Dindigul.

The new designs would help artisans to better understand the present-day market requirements and produce products which can stand up to changing market requirements.

In addition, the State government has also undertaken a cluster development programme to make weavers’ groups self-sustaining and to increase their visibility.

Under the programme, the government has prepared groups of 300 to 500 looms and categorized them as handloom clusters. The project is seen to benefit around 29,000 handloom weavers in six districts of Tamil Nadu.

For more details please visit : TN Handloom Artisans to get new designs for sarees @ Fibre2fashion