Crafts-led enterprises are booming in India, but new models of low-risk financing can solidify the future of the sector, writes Sohini Dey, managing editor of Voice of Fashion, in a story on new research from 200 Million Artisans, a C3 grantee.
In 2020, armed with a degree from National Institute of Fashion technology (NIFT Gandhinagar) and work experience at brands such as Ritu Kumar, designer Ashish Satyavrat Sahu founded his label Johargram. In a sea of new brands, it made an instant impression with streetwear silhouettes crafted from handwoven textiles of Jharkhand. “Initially, Johargram started as a self-funded label, along with 30 bunkar (weaver) families of Simdega [district]. Now we are globally recognised as a sustainable streetwear brand,” says Sahu.
Johargram is one of the 516 enterprises featured in the second edition of Business of Handmade, a report by 200 Million Artisans (200M), which launched in July. Posited as the first of its kind “research on financing India’s craft-led MSMEs”, it puts forth the critical role of investments for the sector. In conversations with 200M and the enterprises that have participated in the report, The Voice of Fashion digs deeper into how finances can transform the crafts-led sector and the massive real-life challenges in the face of such ambition.