APRIL 2022
LEARNING DIARY
CLUSTER STUDIES
Binnamangala Handloom Cluster
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY
Master of Fashion Management(2021-2023)
CLUSTER STUDIES AND RESEARCH
LEARNING DIARY
Submitted to:
Prof. Pratik Ghosh
Prof. Krithika G K
Submitted by:
Isha Sharma (MFM/21/451)
Department of Fashion Management Studies (FMS)
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) (Ministry of
Textiles, Govt. Of India) No. 21st, 16th Cross, Street, 27th Main Rd,
Sector 1,HSR Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560102
CLUSTER STUDY
OBJECTIVES OF THE CLUSTER STUDIES.
1. To do a detailed study of Nelamangala handloom silk sarees.
2. To analyse the gap in branding & positioning of cluster
3. To understand the awareness & acceptance of handloom silk sarees.
4. To create a brand a brand identity to promote the micro cluster
HANDLOOM & BRANDING
In India, the handloom sector is a large, unorganized, diversified, decentralized source of
employment and a good contributor to the economy. The abundance of handloom products in
India is a boon. It includes anything from mass-market generics to high-value-added, high-
demand items. Because most generic products can be duplicated on modern, sophisticated
looms, handloom products cannot compete in today's price-sensitive market.
Brand pillars show off who you are. More importantly, the pillars show how you connect on a
human level. Keep in mind: you are the brand. While having branded assets is critical, there is
much more to branding. Marketing has shifted since the start of the digital age. We’ve come a
long way from billboards and ads in the newspapers. So, it’s no surprise that the medium today to
get your message across is through a digital content marketing strategy and branding.
Crafting a brand pillar is the perfect way of starting a business. It’s brand-building at its finest.
• What are brand pillars?
• The Five Brand Pillars
• How to create brand pillars?
• The complete guide on brand pillars
• Examples of Brand Pillars in Action
• Final Thoughts on Brand Pillars.
Brand pillars are the touchpoints of your business. It is a combination of your personality and
values that make your brand the way it is. The handloom industry's development plan will finally
be sustained by branding. If these value-added items are to create a unique market niche and
boost weavers' wages, they must be promoted under Brand India Handloom.
LECTURE LEARNINGS
Traditional craft
Product variations
How does cost vary
How does weaving time vary
Customer survey
Areas to be covered
Logo design
Mission statement
Customer experience
Manufacturer & seller
Traders
Past – Diagnosis
Present – Analysis
Future – Proposal
Understand the craft market
Cause & effect, comparative or historical
Proposal
Questions that can be asked.
Raw materials whether it is polyester blend or real silk
Skill training is done or not
How do they balance the cost
From where the material given & demand is forecasted
Analysis of customer preference
DAY-1
4TH APRIL 2022
MARKET VISIT
STORE - HANDLOOM EXPO 2022, WHITE HOUSE, HSR LAYOUT
Handloom
Name- Mohd. Abrat from Madhya Pradesh, dist. Ashok nagar has family business from last 80 years.
Zari – Surat
From 3 days to 1.5 days
Silk + Cotton thread – from Coimbatore
Price range – Rs.3200 – Rs. 80000
From 1000 kg of thread, 200 kg is kept as waste or loss in transit- 8 days transportation.
1 saree manufacturing- 70 people required.
Material used- cotton, kattam silk, mulberry silk.
Has to travel to 50 km to get material.
Government policies are not helping, middle man reaping benefits.
Weekly production plan
Machines fold sarees, online sale through whatsapp, 150 Rs handloom labour
IHLM- Indian Handloom Mark, artisans with these certificates get TA/ DA from government.
Name- Chitradurga, Hollaklumuru
Have 25 looms
Preparation time is approx. 3- 20 days
Price range between 5K – 60K
Name- Chikbellapur cluster, Chintamani anand, white house
Silk sarees
Have 6 looms and also power looms
Price range between 2.5K - 25K
Cotton come sin smaller price range.
There is no online selling it’s completely offline
DAY-1
STORE – MRIGNAYANI, BDA COMPLEX, KORAMANGALA
This shop is a part of Hathkargha vikas nigam Ltd a undertaking of government of
Madhya pradesh.
They are the part of nodal agency which helps in development of handicraft and
handlooms of
Madhya pradesh.
They have 20 showrooms across India.
They facilitate the artisans by providing training, design input, marketing support etc.
They have a wide range of products like Cotton and rayon kurti, cotton and silk sarees,
bed linen, Pillow covers, carpets, Pouches, bags and note books made out of excess
fabric.
STORE – GARVIN GURJARI, BDA COMPLEX, KORAMANGALA
This shop was based on designs and products from Gujarat.
They had a wide range of products from Sarees, Materials, Kurti,
Shawl, Shirt and over coat, Pouches and bags.
Most of the products were hand made.
They also had power loom products like Quilts.
They have Pure silks dupatta, tie and dye and bandini printed dupatta.
They also had toys and decorations made out of excess fabric.
DAY-1
STORE – TRIBES INDIA, BDA COMPLEX, KORAMANGALA
This shop is a part of Tribal co -operative marketing development federation of India Ltd.
This is a part of Ministry of Tribal affairs by the government of India.
This shop had many things like decors, Fabric, kurti, home textile and also edible food
items form the tribal community in India.
They have Tribal textiles, Jewelry, Paintings, Metal crafts, organic food products.
These shops are present in various states across country to promote and sell tribal
products.
DAY-2
5TH APRIL 2022
MARKET VISIT
STORE – DESI, SOUTH END CIRCLE
Khadi handloom
Website- Desihandmade.com
They use charkha for weaving
Find and hire landless labours
They use pastel colors which are produced and sold through hetro developing ecological,
sustainable industry.
Some ingredients which are used in color making- manjista, eucalyptus, indigo, cora etc.
Providing same color is difficult
There is exclusivity in manufacturing
There is no use of machine & electricity
They have their own source for everything which is Vijayanagar franchise in Mangalore
They only promote sustainable products
Organic farming is also done in their store.
DAY-2
5TH APRIL 2022
MARKET VISIT
STORE – UTKALIKA, MG ROAD.
This store is located in MG road in Bangalore.
The shop is known for its hand woven sarees and handicraft they sell.
It is a Orissa emporium with sarees and crafts based Orissa.
They explained about the different ikat sarees they have.
Single ikat means only the weft yarns are tie and dyed and Double ikat means both warp
and weft yarns are tie and dyed.
They have ikat sarees, Sambalpuri sarees, Parampuri sarees and Katak silk
Sambalpuri and Karnataka sarees are Double Ikat sarees.
The price range of their sarees are from Rs.8,000 to Rs.35,000.
They also had Handicrafts of deity statues and paintings of local artisans for home décor.
All of their statues have a back story from ancient Indian mythical stories.
They showed us a handwoven silk saree which had all the states of India mentioned and
they said the method of producing the saree is by inserting the weft yarn knotting it at
places it has to white to highlight the letters in the Black and red body of the saree.
DAY-3
6TH APRIL 2022
CLUSTER VISIT
VISIT TO ARTISANS OF BINNAMANGALA SILK SAREE HANDLOOM CLUSTER,
NELAMANGALA.
About Binnamangala
Locality : Binnamangala
Township name : Nelamangala
District : Bengaluru rural
State : Karnataka
Division : Bengaluru
Language : Kannada, Konkani, Tulu,
Telugu, Kodava
Time zone : IST (UTC +5:30)
Altitude : 899 meters above sea level
Telephone/ STD code : 08118
Pincode : 562123
Post office name : Nelamangala
The famed muktheeswarar temple of chola architecture was discovered in Binnamangala
village, according to the locals, Binnamangala meaning Bendamangala (the burning village).
Vishnu's famous Vishwa Roopa Darshana and the Bhagavad Gita are written on the walls of
Vishwa Shanthi ashram's Gayathri temple. The 37-foot Vijaya Vittala statue and the
Ashalakshmi temple may be found at Vishwa shanti ashram, and the Binnamangala lake has
been designated as a source of drinking water for Nelamangala town by the Central
government. The Lakshmivenk Venkatraman temple at Basavanahalli in Doddaballapur road,
established by Janamejaraya, is one of the most famous temples near Binnamangala. Magadi
and Tumkur are two other towns close to Nelamangala.
DAY-3
WEAVER'S HOUSE
Artisan’s name & contact-
RAMU- 8919921065
RAGHAVENDRA- 9916732789
Artisan’s background
Artisan’s father was a farmer, he learned this skill after he came to nilamangala
They had to use both hands and legs while peddling on manual basis
It was difficult to press pedal continuously, so they got motors from Dharmavaram.
They tried to get weaver’s card but not able to get it. If they got this card, it will be
beneficial for the artisans
There were other weavers also with Raghu and Ramu but few of them left this work for
another job due to the high cost of silk.
They don’t buy silk in the month of Arshad due to their sentimental beliefs.
After covid, only 4 handlooms are left and rest were power looms.
Raghu and Ramu closed their looms because they didn’t get any help from the government
and binnamangala handloom society after covid.
Silk saree
Separate cards are place for borders and pallu
Bobbin is passed through when thread goes up
Jakurtas are used for borders and buttas for pallu
400 threads in zari borders are used and 9000 warps as in total threads in a saree
600 mtr is required to make a single saree
DAY-3
Bobbin winding is done through bobbin winding machine, it takes about 15-20 min to get
bobbin wind.
Initially women use to make bobbins, it takes about 4-5 days to set a single loom.
Once a design is made for saree it runs for 4 years, customisations can be done according
to customer’s demand.
Weavers weave 25 sarees together and produce 10 sarees per month
Manufacturing time for 1 saree is 3 days
Weavers work for 10-12 hours per day
For dying 1 kg yarns – cost around Rs 400 and Rs 900 for colourful dying
In 1 kg of dying process of yarns, 300 gm of yarn is wasted during the process.
Silk- Ramanugara, People- surroundings only, Waste- 10-12%, Weaver’s wages
Rs 1700 for a normal saree, the exotic one which take about 20 days to produce, they get
paid 8K-7K
Selling and sourcing is done from Bangalore, from the shop Mahavir Mayur.
They sell sarees to distributors for approx. Rs 3200 and distributors further sell the sarees
online/ offline.
They have distributors in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerela and Rajasthan
There is no promotional activities of or for the binnamangala handloom society and their
silk sarees.
Binnamangala handloom society is ready to sell through online.
DAY-4
7TH APRIL 2022
MARKET SURVEY
CHIKPETE MARKET, BANGALORE
Kanchipuram Weaver’s society
Sundar silk sold the most
Price range starts from 5K-25K, majority sales from Kanchipuram
They have silk handloom trademark
Sourcing is done from Kaanchi, Tamil Nadu.
Threads which are used mostly silver threads with gold polish
Buying from north is mostly power loom and from south mostly handloom
They know about the binnamangala silk handloom sarees
Instagram handle- sundar_silk
Sri Vasupradha Silk - Avenue road
The outlet sold cotton, polyester, silk sarees only. They source their materials from
handlooms and power looms from yelahanka.
The boxes used are common boxes, no specific branding is done.
Consumers cannot differentiate between handloom and power loom.
The silk trade mark is not used often as it does not have regulations and thus can be used
to deceive people.
Handloom trademarks are also not licensed.
DAY-4
Findings
The cluster society does not have an English-language card; it only has a kannada-language
card.
The finished objects are marketed in and around the town, and they occasionally appear at
government-sponsored shows.
Plain or standardised boxes offered in the market are used to sell the products.
Sudarshan Silks, Madan Silk House in Chickpet, buys the finished sarees.
The cluster's unique identification has yet to be determined.
The society has not yet granted permission to use the Pure Silk Mark logo.
Weavers claim that buyers are unable to distinguish between powerloom and handloom
sarees.
The society also does not licence handloom trademarks.
DAY-5
8TH APRIL 2022
CLUSTER VISIT
WEAVER'S HOUSE
We visited Mr. Siddaraju house he was one of the artisans in Binnamangala.
Mr. Siddaraju is 54 years old and belongs to a family of 4.
He came to Binnamangala 25 years ago and started practicing weaving at the age
of 12.
His father a farmer asked him to take up on this profession.
He said that this was not Generation based.
He learnt this profession for learning and many were similar to his case only few
people inherited it from their parents.
He has been practicing handloom weaving for almost 40 years now.
The reason he stated for changingvthe beam was the capacity it held increased.
If he winds the beam once it he can use it for 4 to 5 months.
One warp beam takes up to 200 meters of silk yarn.
DAY-5
CHITRAKALA PARISHATH
Chitrakala Parishath also know as Bengaluru utsav. This is a art, craft, Handloom and
Lifestyle Exhibition. Visit to this exhibition was very exciting and knowledgeable.
There were variety of shops which had handloom and power loom sarees, salwar,
kurti, Handicraft from various artisans from parts of the country. There was
Chanderi sarees, Sambalpuri sarees, Chikankari Kurtis and sarees, batik prints , block
prints textiles and home furnishing goods. kalamkari bags, Kurtis and sarees were
available, metal artifacts and home décor, hand woven rugs and carpets, etc., All the
products was directly sold by the artisan themselves and was found at a reasonable
pricing. This exhibition happens once in a month for a week and it exposes people of
society to the existing clusters and encourage purchase of their products.
DAY-5
CONCLUSION
Cluster studies give us a lot of information on how a cluster works, as well as their
issues and problems. We not only obtained a theoretical understanding, but also an
emotional connection with the artisans who shared their art, culture, work, and daily
lives with us. They led us with great care and optimism. Each and every saree
manufactured by them has a narrative and a discussion with a weaver.
The visit enabled us to understand their issues in greater detail, which will aid us in
providing them with assistance and solutions as part of our project. It is our obligation
as fashion students to safeguard and preserve all forms of art and workmanship
around the world.
The market research revealed what is currently on the market, what people are
buying, and what additional we can give to help the product thrive and develop. The
five days provided us with the most hands-on experience with our friends and
professors.
