INDIA ACKNOWLEDGES ITS HANDLOOM HERITAGE|印度時尚周秀傳統編織 籲振興偏鄉手工業

Also in India, designers at one of the country's biggest fashion weeks showcased new collections made of handmade fabrics. They are calling for the government to support an industry that employs 13 million people, the handloom industry. This year's Amazon India Fashion Week was not just about launching new collections but also aimed at synergizing traditional patterns with modern design. The opening day celebrated couture made of East Indian silk, cotton fabrics and other hand-woven textiles. ==GAURAV GUPTA Designer== Especially the customer base that is consuming couture right now in and from this country. So, I think it's a very interesting time for designers to innovate more and more in this sphere, and that's when the real change will happen. That's when we would actually see a global revival of handloom in India. The fashion extravaganza was dedicated to the countries' anonymous weavers. According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation, India produces the majority of world's hand-woven textiles, and the handloom industry is the second largest employer in rural and semi-rural areas after agriculture with 13 million workers. Hussein is one of them. He is a third-generation weaver from a small town in North India. At a handloom school, he and other students were excited to see their works come to life. ==HUSSEIN Student Weaver== We had never seen our final product. We didn't know where our handloom-made fabrics went or what came of them. But, here we saw what is made from our handloom fabrics and it was presented right in front of our eyes. So I am shocked (in a good way). It made all of us very happy. In 2015 and 2016, India exported around US$360 million of handloom products. Top buyers were the US, the UK, and the UAE. In the end of the fashion show, Hussein and his classmates were invited to walk the ramp. As the fashion industry sees a revival of traditional handcrafts, he hopes to make more than the minimum wage, that is US$778 per month. TRANSLATED BY：SASHA CHIU