Ramesh Menon of Save The Loom wants to shift the narrative around handloom in India

Replete with stories, a new, thoughtfully-designed space in Fort Kochi rethinks and redefines handloom

There are perhaps few professions that are as laborious as weaving. Ramesh Menon, founder of the non-profit community Save The Loom, explains that the process, often performed in less-than-favourable conditions, requires different parts of a weaver’s body to be engaged at the same time. “The hands and feet need to be in sync, the eyes need to watch every thread, and the mind needs to think of the design. Additionally, the looms are structured in such a way that there’s no backrest,” he says.

However, despite the arduous nature of the work, most weavers receive wages that are far from fair. Their painstakingly-made weaves fail to receive the recognition and respect they deserve–consuming handmade fashion continues to erroneously be perceived as supporting a charity cause. “People don’t identify artisanal products by their quality, they identify them by the empathy they have,” adds Menon. For the last four-and-a-half years, the fashion veteran is keen on changing this narrative, and his latest endeavour, a concept design space called One Zero Eight, is a concrete step in that direction.

Endless possibilities

While Save The Loom was founded to help weavers whose homes and looms were destroyed by the floods in Kerala in 2018, restoration was never the only task on the agenda. Upping the value of a weaver’s work by serving it in the right setting and with the right set of stories was just as important. Shortly after the looms were revived, Menon, alongside Himanshu Shani of the label 11.11/eleven eleven, unveiled an exhibit called Colours of Resilience at the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. The project, which invited some of the country’s finest designers to put their signature spin on kora khadi, established, above all else, the endless possibilities that the craft carries.

“It’s fascinating to see how a simple textile changes value with each designer’s reinterpretation,” says Menon. A high demand for the pieces resulted in the first rendition of One Zero Eight, a pop-up where flood-damaged looms and loom accessories were used to tell compelling tales. “The raw surroundings, which highlighted how the craft survived and found new forms, sensitised people. During the Biennale, we had the finest patrons visiting, including the heads of MoMA and the Grand Palais,” explains Menon. 

A new home 

From spotlighting the untapped potential of Indian weaves to garnering a discerning clientele, the evident advantages of bringing handlooms to an experiential space prompted Menon to craft a long-term strategy. At the Biennale this year, Colours of Resilience made a comeback–for round two, more designers were added to the mix–and One Zero Eight found a new home in a centuries-old Portuguese villa in Fort Kochi. Now, a two-storey home, which has been meticulously restored and decorated with furniture made using discarded materials found in Kerala’s weaving centres, sets the perfect space for some of the finest handmade products.

“The challenge was to retain the warmth of the home and connect all the rooms to create a retail story,” says Shani, who, along with Menon and experiential spatial designer Wasim Khan, worked hard to revive the space while keeping its original charm intact. At the light-filled store, made of many rooms that boast high ceilings and wooden floors, visitors can expect to find a carefully curated collection of artisanal garments and accessories. Some of the current offerings include clay bobbleheads from Péro and a line that Menon created with his in-house designers. Each item carries a handwritten tag with details about the weaver who worked on it. There are exclusive pieces crafted by noteworthy names from the industry too.

“The edit for One Zero Eight involved the use of mundu and thorthu fabrics. It was deeply satisfying for me to use Kerala textiles to create an almost zero-waste shirt and a fisherman pant that can be worn by men or women. What made me the happiest though was the jewellery that was made using scraps from the edit,” says designer Padmaja Krishnan,best known for designs that celebrate traditional textiles.

Beyond retail

However, as is apparent from the location and choice of décor, the purpose of One Zero Eight extends far beyond retail. One of the establishment’s key features is a garden put together by New Delhi-based designer Aneeth Arora. The close to 300 plants, carefully chosen from neighbouring nurseries, capture the essence of Kerala and allow visitors to enjoy an inherently authentic experience. “There’s nothing decorative or completely alien. Everything in the garden is native to Kerala,” says Menon. 

Till date, every effort made by Menon–whether it’s collaborating with different designers or creating one-of-a-kind spaces like One Zero Eight–has been aimed at changing not only the way we perceive handlooms but also the way weavers do. It is this intention that also informs his future plans. On the cards is a live museum designed by green architect Vinu Daniel, where people from across the world can watch weavers in action. “The idea is to celebrate something now instead of when it’s gone. Additionally, weavers are likely to have a higher perception of what they are doing when someone admires their work. A space like this will help restore their dignity,” says Menon of his next, highly anticipated step.

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