Krishna Wool

Mr. Om Prakash Malhotra, the founder of Krishna Wool, started weaving early in his childhood with his mother and father. Weaving was already there in his family with his grandfather and father practicing it which motivated him to try it and he then gradually became a professional at it.

Having done most of his schooling in Kullu, he completed his Diploma in automobile engineering from Polytechnic University in 1975 and worked under the government for 23 years before establishing Krishna Wool in 1998 with his wife Krishna and daughter Anshul.

Krishna Wool was established because of him and his wife’s drive to work after retirement for what they both loved, weaving and traditional textiles. It started with his wife teaching hand spinning to the local women and craftsmen, and him gathering all the information and machinery for the production process. “We had two handlooms at my home when we started and now have over 150 handlooms placed in different villages around Mandi.”

Krishna Wool started teaching the craft for free and still follows it. Mr. Om Prakash believes that practicing the craft this way gives opportunity to unskilled women and provides them with an employment to fund their daily needs which then makes them self-dependent within 2 or 3 months of practice.

Talking about the future of Himachali Shawls, he thinks there will be a rise in demand for handmade shawls more than machine made cloth since everyone wants something which is authentic and has taken a lot of time to be produced. However, he would like to keep using the original designs without any manipulation as doing so alters the tradition it has been following and the shawl looses the essence of the craft.

He believes that the Textile industry has a very good scope in the upcoming time whether it is handmade, machine made or fashion designing in general.

Anshul Malhotra weaved her first shawl when she 14 and joined her father in Krishna Wool after completing her graduation in B. Tech. Textiles from Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences, Bhiwani.

She told us that weaving in Himachal, is taught mostly in the families which have a loom in their house. Earlier, the government schools had weaving as a subject where they had training sessions including the spinning of yarn and weaving the shawl but since “children are leaving their roots and pursuing other careers, the art is now dying in Himachal.”

Her father started Krishna Wool with two main motives, 1.Using only natural fibres with no synthetic mixing to make sure that the environment isn’t affected in a bad way. 2.Conserving the craft of weaving the traditional Kullu shawl by getting more and more people engaged in the process.

“The women in living rural areas, unlike the ones in urban cities, do not have the liberty to shut down their doors and leave for work as they have the responsibilities of her household, family and cattle”

They provide an extra source of income and empower the women of the villages by providing them looms with the ease of not having to leave home. Since the loom is now at home, they are able to concentrate fully on the work instead of having to worry about their family and cattle which subsequently results in a defect free work and faster rate of production.

Krishna wool has a lot of units based inside the homes across different parts of Mandi and is working with 120 women artisans trying to conserve the traditional handloom practices by launching it in the market with new and old designs combined.

Krishna Wool did its first international exhibition in Seoul, South Korea. They then exhibited in Slovenia and Moscow. Krishna Wool also won a competition in India hosted by the China Government for which she visited China to exhibit their eco-friendly products. She was also selected out of 500 Indian designers for an-all expense paid trip to Germany to exhibit their designs where they were the only Indian unit representing the textiles sector.

When asked about the future, she told us that she believes Krishna Wool is definitely going to expand since they are maintaining the quality standards and people are joining every day. Sustainable fashion is what the future needs and thus they’re selling well on both the national and international fronts. National market is aware of the value of the product and the efforts which go behind it and the international market appreciates natural and sustainable fashion, due to which they are getting an equally good response from both.

Kapil Vaidya never thought that he would be a part of the weaving industry but after his marriage his interest diverted towards the Kullu Shawls and crafts and he learnt in weave in the year 2015. He mentioned that it took him 6-7 months to learn about the Kullu Motifs, the types of weave used and still is in the process of learning to weave professionally. What initially attracted Mr Kapil to be a part of Krishna Wool was because of cultural roots, values and heritage of Himachal. His perspective about the textiles completely changed after watching the hardwork and efforts put in the local weavers and craftsmen.

Krishna wool provides employment for both skilled and unskilled women making it a work orientation and profit oriented organisation. Kapil says “If the quality of our products is good, good profits will automatically be generated.” He sees Krishna Wool as an organisation which will revive the knowledge of Kullu Shawls in younger generation as it is a dying craft, he believes that international market studies can be a better opportunity to seek more engagement from the customers.

Upon being asked if Mr. Kapil thought that workers in Krishna Wool are here out of passion or just to earn a livelihood he said that most of the people work as their livelihood depends on these Shawls and others( mostly female) work here as they are passionate about the revival of the craft but Roti, Kapdah, Makaan” are the basic necessities for survival.