CHENNAI: With the idea of reviving the traditional handloom weaving, Gunjan Aggarwal and Bejoy Veer Suri co-founded Goulian Finch, an online start-up that deals in handwoven mulberry silk. They offer offbeat pocket squares produced in collaboration with Benarasi weavers. According to the co-founders, the Goulian Finch platform is a win-win situation for the company as well as traditional weavers.
“We tried quite a few styles of handpainting, kantha, etc, but nothing matched the Benarasi art work. With designers and a team of weavers, it took us almost three years to perfectly start manufacturing a 16x16 inch hand-woven piece with small motifs on a traditional loom, which is originally meant to make a six-yard sari,” said Suri. The company is associated with a few weaver families in Banaras who still use traditional looms, and resist usage of power looms to continue the artisanal heritage. “We have invested close to `22 lakh in such projects in the past five years,” informed Aggarwal.
On being asked about the collaboration with Goulian Finch, RS Pathak, community head, Benarasi Weavers’ Association, said, “As a handloom product, (the making of) pocket squares are very different from saris, and we were amazed this was possible. That products made with age-old weaving techniques using a traditional loom can set new trends gave us motivation to support and collaborate with the company.”We are happy that brands have started considering traditional loom and techniques passed on for generations. These methods are losing their importance in this technology-driven era. However, through this platform, the weaver community is able to earn its livelihood. We have already generated an inventory of over `10 lakh from this,” added Pathak.
Talking about the conceptualisation of the brand, Aggarwal said it was difficult to make a perfect 16X16 inch weave without a thread coming out in the loom, which was originally used to make sarees. If the weavers lift their eyes even for a second, the whole weave goes wrong. We spent a lot of time training women to hand-roll borders of the pocket squares.” Goulian Finch has also unveiled the world’s first Rudraksha Cufflink collection that uses Panchmukhi Rudraksha of 13mm size, set into a gold-plated ring affixed with a stitch design to retain its natural form and energy. The inspiration of the design frame of the beaded cufflinks is ‘globe’, the only structure that could hold a bead strongly.
Cufflinks with a rudraksha twist
Goulian Finch has also unveiled the world’s first Rudraksha Cufflink collection that uses Panchmukhi Rudraksha of 13mm size, set into a gold-plated ring affixed with a stitch design to retain its natural form and energy. The inspiration of the design frame was the ‘globe’.