Your bank account might still be reeling from all that holiday shopping, but there’s never a bad time to invest in pieces that reflect the country’s handicraft heritage. GoCoop, an online marketplace that connects artisans with customers kicks off 2018 with a curated trunk show at Vivanta by Taj, MG Road. The online store was started by Siva Devireddy in 2012 but for the first time, the portal introduces its own label, The Good Loom. “The products that we’ve been working with are quite traditional. There is some design intervention req-uired. So what we are doing is, offering the artisans contemporary designs to work with. These designs will be sold as part of the Good Loom label,” explains Siva, a native of Guntur who worked in San Francisco before returning to India.
The label will have products from all of the 12 clusters that GoCoop works with, spanning all regions of the country. “The label is for the socially conscious consumer who wants to make a difference to the artisan community,” says Siva, who has been working on the concept and gathering inventory for more than six months. Ilkal, Siva says, is one of the clusters to look out for. ”It’s one of our biggest and has about 10,000 weavers. The work we do with them has a large social impact,” he shares. One can also look for Chettinad weaves. “This group has less than 100 weavers. The weave is light and simple — great for women who want to wear saris to work,” he tells us. Apart from these weaves, also expect handblock printed garments from Sanganer and Bagru, Mangalgiri, ikat and jamdani weaves, muga silk woven in Benares and kantha embroidery.
Rs.3,000 upwards. Today and tomorrow. At Vivanta by Taj, MG Road.