Designers join hands to support Chendamangalam weavers

It was from the newspapers that Kochi designer Shalini James came to know about how Chendamangalam, the weaver’s village in the outskirts of Kochi, has been devastated in the recent floods. One of her first reactions was to call up her friend and designer Sreejith Jeevan. “She told me that she planned to go there to check out the situation. And we found that in the village, which has five clusters of handloom weavers, there was extensive damage.For instance, if we take the Chendamangalam handloom society, their stocks were not destroyed but were drenched. We felt that if it is kept in the moist atmosphere, the clothes will become useless. So, on an urgent basis, we decided to promote the sales of the clothes that were unaffected,” says Sreejith Jeevan.



He and Shalini, along with other designers including Indu Menon and Tracy are trying to help the weavers sell their stock which is worth over `40 lakh. Sreejith explains that more than 3,000 pieces of handloom items face the threat of imminent damage while the rest has already been rendered useless. “It is their only hope of getting back to work. Initially we contacted people who collect clothes in bulk, then we decided to use social media as well to help them sell their undamaged stock.”


Fashion writer and design consultant Ramesh Menon has also been working closely with the weavers of Chendamangalam. “Three out of the five clusters of handloom industry in Chendamangalam are badly affected. The society building and and the houses were flooded. Their machines and stocks have been damaged. Except frames, everything else including looms were destroyed,” he explains.


“We have been doing a survey since August 25 to assess in detail the damage suffered by each family. This will help bring transparency to the relief efforts,” he says. Ramesh has set up a website called, SaveTheLoom.org, to coordinate the efforts.