TribAttire: Magic of weaving is a unique initiative to breathe fresh life into the dying art of hand-woven ethnic tribal fabrics in India, and turn it into fashionable apparel to suit contemporary tastes.
It was launched by former journalist Dolanchapa Bhattacharyya, a Delhi-based quadragenarian, about a year ago, at a time when the apparel industry all over the world was struggling to stay alive because of the pandemic.
But it did not come about overnight. Battacharyya had spent five years researching tribal fabrics — their origins, history and colours — and understanding the poor socio-economic conditions of the weavers.
Bhattacharyya says, “TribAttire is not just yet another business. It’s a mission to popularise authentic tribal ethnic fabrics in the modern fashion world and help the weavers save their very rich but almost extinct artworks.”
Dolanchapa Bhattacharyya
She started by exploring the indigenous fabric of the tribals of Tripura, her marital home-State. She would turn the tribal fabrics into fashionable skirts, dresses, jackets and coats for herself, and soon, she started getting requests for such clothes from her peers and friends. “That was actually the trigger of my dream,” Bhattacharyya explains.
TribAttire has experimented with traditional and tribal fabrics from Manipur, Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chattishgarh and other places, and made stylish long and short skirts, bush shirts, smart tops, fashionable middies, jackets, coats, and shirts and kurtas for men and children, as well as party and corporate wear.
“We want to support sustainable fashion which will connect you to nature,” Bhattacharyya says, adding, “Our vision is to innovate, to lead, to enhance sustainable fashion and thus to provide best-value products to global customers.”
