Untitled 11:11- NY Fashion Week 2009

In this photo, Untitled 11:11 models are wearing handloom silk batik, handloom tassar silk with woolen inserts and handloom cotton with metallic 'zari' thread. Photo from Racked.com: Frank Gargione

One of the design teams we work with at Indigo Handloom is a young label called 'Untitled 11:11." One of the things we like about "Untitled" is their willingness to experiment with new fabrics. Many times, they create their own fabrics by mixing in new elements to our standard fabrics.

For their Spring 2010 collection, they created eight new unique fabrics by customizing the colors of the weft yarns. They then mixed all the fabrics together - sometimes within the same garment.

Their collection was inspired by the French Mediterranean Coast and was presented September 12th, 2009 at "Axelle Gallery" in the Chelsea neighborhood in New York City.

There was a great turnout including critics from: WWD (Women's Wear Daily) and Style.com. WWD described the Spring 2010 collections as "sexy skirts and bustiers with gorgeous details like cascades of chevron pleats and geometric panels."

A "Vogue Magazine" stylist labeled Untitled 11:11 designers, Laurel Anderson and David Peck, "the next big thing." The designs were both retro and fresh, but most impressive of all was their choice of fabrics. The design team were praised not only for the style and sensibility of their collection but also for the socially conscious nature of the handloom fabric used.

Cambodia’s Handwoven Mats

Photo by Soeun Say

By KAMPONG CHAM
The Phnom Penh Post

The tradition of handloom exists in all parts of Asia. In Cambodia, hand woven mats have provided income, in some places, for five generations. At the height of the business, weavers could produce and sell 8 to 10 mats a day, selling around 200 to 250 mats per month, and even more during the wedding season.

The mats would sell for $4.00-$7.50 USD, which to Americans sounds like a very reasonable price for hand woven goods. The problems that Cambodian weavers are now facing are the economic crisis and the importing of Thai and Vietnamese machine woven alternatives which sell at lower prices.

Sales of the hand woven mats have decreased by 50% and as a result production is slowing down. Although the weavers would like to lower their prices to compete with the foreign machine made products, they are already making such a low profit margin that they cannot sell the mats for any less.

Instead of giving up, the weavers of Cambodia are petitioning the government for outside marketing advice. They hope that by integrating new designs and updating the old ones, they will attract customers back to their product.

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Handloom Textiles on the Decline in Philippines

Photo by Lindsay Mayhood

By Gina Areopagita
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Traditional handloom textiles are becoming a rarity in the Philippines. Malong and Abaca are two forms of traditional hand weaving techniques in the Philippines.

“Asean Handicrafts” is the organization that has been charged with boosting the ancient industry back to life. The hope is that more demand for hand woven products would give indigenous people of the Philippines work as well as keeping a historic tradition alive. The Philippines traditional textiles are very unique and make wonderful apparel and home furnishing cloth.

At the end of October “Asean Handicrafts” is holding an exposition that will showcase traditional weavings. First they need to motivate the people of their country to support hand weaving, and they must next market to tourists.

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Daram- Handloom Apparel in Hyderabad

Picture from http://daaram.blogspot.com/2009/04/pre-shrunk-garments-from-daram.html

Daram is a store based in Hyderabad, India. Daram, like Indigo Handloom, is passionate about handloom textiles. Daram exclusively carries apparel made from handloom fabric from India. Part of their mission is to support the handloom industry while also making superior quality garments. They educate their customers on hand woven fabrics and at the same time provide a steady market for handloom products.