Farak

Farak

Co-founded by Arshia and Avishek in 2018, Rias Jaipur is a label that champions the cause of declining textiles and Indian crafts. Having studied design from NIFT, Chennai but hailing from the states of Rajasthan and West Bengal, both rich in their culture and heritage, broadened the duo’s horizons further. They then made a collective decision to work solely with dabu, a unique form of printing that uses mud as a resistant and hand block printing from Rajasthan.‘All this is carried out on hand spun khadi from a village near West Bengal. An attempt to keep these crafts alive, Rias Jaipur is a bridge between artisanal skill and modern designs. Our aim is to innovate constantly and create striking outfits, using a combination of age old techniques and our modern design skills,’ they explain.

History is usually written by those in power. More often than not, communities on the peripheries lose their voice and the ability to build their own narratives. Rarely does one bother to remember the story of the women working in a tiny, cramped sweatshop producing our clothes, nor does one care about the travails of the farmers growing cotton for textiles in the country. Shaking up the status quo with a new category Farak under the label Rias, Arshia and Avishek will introduce varied collections inspired by different stories of people around the world making some difference. They intend to shed spotlight on stories that may have been forgotten or lost somewhere in time. The duo tells me, ‘We hope these narratives will educate us all, helping artisans and us build new ways of learning and moving forward together. We strongly believe progress and success is always tied together.’

Farak

It’s fairly easy to turn a blind eye towards the struggles of those who aren’t directly in front of us. The true cost of fashion lies in all these stories hiding in plain sight. Farak’s maiden collection includes a series of sweatshirts and joggers made from 100% desi cotton, cultivated, hand-knitted and woven by farmers and craftspeople from Vidarbha, Wardha and Murshidabad. Each garment narrates the farmer's struggle. The separates come with a scannable QR Code that can be used by its wearer and those around, to educate themselves and be aware of those who make our clothes. Arshia and Avishek assert, ‘Each garment is an expression of our emotions — we care about the farmers and their happiness and their story affects us. Today, we only want to say one thing to every farmer - Humein Farak Padta Hai! (It makes a difference to us!)’

For Farak garments, their journey begins at the looms of Murshidabad in West Bengal. The fabric gets woven at the ten adopted looms of khadi denim. Arshia and Avishek’s primary aim is to lend a helping hand to the artisans and provide them with work constantly. There is an in house sampling, stitching and production unit. They believe in working along with the artisans and respecting their limits. Their model includes paying monthly salaries to their employees and not daily wages. They explain, ‘We don’t exploit weavers and printers by bargaining about the prices of the material. The office time is organised with three breaks, that increases the efficiency of the employees. In the call to maintain the authenticity, we avoid creating deadlines or timing for the artisans to work on. We set our production timeline according to artisans, whatever may be the duty, so that it's flexible to the artisans. Our motivation is to give employment to artisans for the entire year. Thus, we believe in growing the artisans to nourish ourselves. Artisans are thoroughly promoted and credited in every step of our process, including mentioning them in hand tags and online blogs.’ Arshia and Avishek’s earnest efforts clearly point towards an ethical model that operates within the formal sector of employment rather than the informal one.

Farak

The year that went by was not an easy one for various stakeholders in the industry. Coming from a weavers’ family himself, co-founder Avishek deeply understood the struggle of the difficult times and not being able to provide enough work to the artisans. Talking about their motivation in these times, they add, ‘Our deep attachment to the artisans and their families, the promise to them to give them work for the entire year, is what encourages us to stay motivated. Furthermore, it is crucial to work in a way that sustains everyone who works with us. The craft and the people themselves are a big ocean of inspiration. The more we explore, the more doors for discovery open. To find a new vision is what leads us to a new direction.’

Farak

Reiterating the desperate need to rethink fashion in current times, both Avishek and Arshia are supportive of the younger design community that is stepping up in order to not just create a name for themselves, but also coming up with more innovative ideas to help fashion survive more consciously in the future. They elucidate, ‘The fashion textile, apparel, home and luxury markets are all slowing down and are trying to relook at how they want to create more meaningful businesses. So it seems like we are moving towards a more conscious future than a sustainable one.’

Like others, the team has faced multiple difficulties traversing through the past year. Their focus has been on getting through the problems slowly rather than wasting effort and energy on all that’s ‘trending’. Staying true to their ethos, the duo is motivated to produce products that give back to society. Coming up in the near future are their high street bomber jackets, that will be created using waste collected over the past three years from Rias Jaipur 's manufacturing site. The duo on a parting note tells me that the collection is called (RE) -  START /WIND/CYCLE.

 

Text Unnati Saini
Date 27-01-2021

Farak