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The handloom designer
I have been nominated for the Lux Style Awards, 2002, commemorating 50 years of style and glamour in Pakistan,” said Shamoon Sultan excitedly. The young man, who runs three khaddi outlets of handloom fabrics and garments in Karachi — has been nominated for the best designer award, together with designer gurus who have been in the business for the last 15 to 20 years.
“The award ceremony will be telecast on PTV on the second day of Eid-ul-Azha. Whether I win or not, it is still a great honour for me to be nominated. I am a new entrant in the field, and the other nominees are all big names.” Shamoon said.
The award, if won by Shamoon, will be just another feather in his cap. Designing involves understanding of one’s culture, intuition and artisanship. Shamoon’s sensibility functions like a prism. He is aided in his design pursuit by young graduates from the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture (IVSAA). Shamoon himself graduated from the Textile Department of the same school in June 1996. He worked briefly with two local designers, as well as at a textile mill, thereby gaining insight into the strengths and weaknesses of small as well as large commercial enterprises.
‘My master craftsman Noor, worked at a butcher’s shop for many years,’ said Shamoon. Carving meat instead of weaving fine fabrics on the handloom was not what Noor or other men like him had wanted to do, but they had no choice. For all practical purposes, they had said goodbye to the profession of their forefathers
Since 1997 he has held two exhibitions in Karachi and two in Islamabad. He has participated in a fashion show, ‘Woven Wonders,’ held in 1999, to support the primary education and health services for the needy people in the Korangi area of Karachi. But after these stints, he has concentrated on designing and production for his own outlets.
“My master craftsman, Noor, worked at a butcher’s shop for many years,” said Shamoon, en route to his handloom factory. Carving meat instead of weaving fine fabrics on the handloom was not what Noor or other men like him had wanted to do, but they had no choice. For all practical purposes, they had said goodbye to the profession of their forefathers.
“Exploited by some designers and boutique owners in the past, they had unanimously decided not to fall into the trap again. At the end of the day, it was the money they carried home that mattered to them. It is not possible to withhold a dying craft on an empty stomach!”
He says, it was with great difficulty that he could convince one weaver to work for him. This was in April 1998, when he installed his first handloom, in a room built on an acre of land that was owned by his father in the SITE area of Karachi. At the end of that year, Shamoon was the proud owner of 23 handlooms as well as his first outlet on Zamzama. After that, there was no looking back.
There is a shop in KDA 1, which opened last year, and the latest is in Park Towers in Clifton, which also offers a complete range of home textiles, besides the beautiful fabrics and garments that are available in the other two outlets.
After having some coffee in Shamoon’s tastefully done, quiet, office, I was unprepared for what I witnessed when he opened an adjacent door which led to the factory. A hive of activity was in progress. It was mind-boggling to see 150 handlooms in operation under one roof. Shamoon says that the first weaver, highly satisfied with his working environment and pay-cheque, was instrumental in getting the other 149 weavers!
The factory is devoid of the usual stuffiness that one associates with such places. It is not only spacious; it is well lit and well ventilated. Unlike the noisy power looms in a textile factory, there was hardly any sound, and the men looked cheerfully occupied.
“How come you don’t have a single woman weaver?” I ask Shamoon. He pointed to the tin canisters hanging from both ends of each loom. “You see these? The concrete blocks kept in these canisters are the weights that enable the weaver to weave the fine khaddi that is my hallmark. I could employ women, but because of the energy that is required for weaving so intricately, they will not be able to cope with it,” he said.
Shamoon has sold ready to wear kurtas, designed by him, from day one. But now the range of his cotton and silk handloom garments has given him an edge above all such designers who buy ready made handloom material to create their own designs. This designer believes in simple, traditional cuts. He feels no need for embellishment of his garments with embroidery. His experiments are exclusively targeted towards the production of exciting weaves. Colour combinations, designs and motifs that are unique and appealing; the traditional jamdani technique is also modified and modernized for an alluring effect.
Shamoon uses natural dyes as well as chemical dyes. The natural dyes have a limited colour palette: madder (munjeet), henna (mehendi), turmeric (haldi), pomegranate (anaar), and of course indigo — the deep blue dye. He is growing indigo on his lands in Multan, and says it will be more appropriate to dye the yarn over there rather than in Karachi, as here the salt in the water tends to spoil the colour. He reminds that the ajrak centres, using indigo, traditionally flourished near the rivers. But while Shamoon would continue to persevere with natural dyes, he is not averse to the idea of using chemical dyes, as “they offer a much greater variety.”
He has been to India for research and found that no handloom factory there compared to his own. There may be hundreds of small outfits there, but he has not come across any that could boast of 150 handlooms under one roof. “We are still scratching the surface. The craftsman has been underestimated here. We have room for several more handloom factories to flourish in this country. I want to sell the whole idea of handloom fabrics. I want our people to take pride in wearing handwoven cloth,” he said excitedly.
While Zee TV and PTV have beamed Shamoon’s achievements all over the world, he has also been approached by a big time label to supply his fabrics. Shamoon believes in making only about 200 to 250 yards of each colour and design, and feels that although it may be possible to accept the challenge of working with a big label, at present he is not equipped for exports. His existing three outlets in Karachi, the fourth to be opened on Tariq Road, and another one in the pipeline for Lahore, already have the weavers’ hands moving frantically on their looms.
I left Shamoon with his dream of putting a thousand handlooms under his roof — a scheme that is probably not too far off in the future. Considering his track record in a short period of two years, it is no impossible feat...
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