2012 Holiday Gifts Guide Under Rs. 5000

From top left: Beige Multicolored Phulkari Clutch/ Phulkari iPad Cover/ Wine Printed Silk Wrap Top / Teal Blue Handcrafted Wrist Watches / Red and Blue Zipper Pouch With Flower / Golden Necklace with Fish Pendant / Multicolor Beaded Neckpiece / Mint Green Painted Earrings with Sea Shell / Green and Vermilion Red Reversible Kantha Stole / Blue Denim Purse With Yellow Bow

Handcrafted Jewelry

Opulent, colorful and unique...these 3 words define handcrafted jewelry very well. Made with the meticulous craftsmanship and inspired by sustainable luxury the handcrafted jewelry will never go out of style. There are few good reason why you should buy handmade jewelry:

1. Handmade jewelry is unique. Since it is not produced in masses so the each piece will have some uniqueness. This is handcrafted so even though the artisan may have made the same patterns, each piece will have something unique in it. That ways you are the only person who owns your handmade jewelry.

2. Perfect match for every occasion. Handcrafted jewelry is appropriate for every occasion. You can select the beaded jewelry with sterling silver strands for your formal events, something chunky, beaded, bigger jewelry for evening parties and something made out of pearls for your work or with casual wear.

3. Consider them as a great gift. Since anything which is handcrafted has its own charm, these handmade jewelry will also be a good idea to gift. These are easy to store and care for. You can go for beaded jewelry along with one or multiple silver strands. Even the earrings or bracelets made with beads or pearls will look nice.

4. Affordable jewelry. The handcrafted jewelry is inexpensive.

5. On the other hand it is of high quality too as it is done by hands. You can easily team up this jewelry with your outfit to give an overall rich look.

6. Its uniqueness can get you lot of compliments while you are in a party.
   
   
   

   
   

   

    Beautiful Handcrafted Beaded Necklaces

   
   

   
   Handmade Earrings and Bracelet
   
   To Shop These Products visit: http://www.crafusion.com/products.html

Lola's world Shop – Reviving Indian Craft with French Spirit

The very interesting 'mother and child' concept store located in the capital city Delhi, Lola's world has everything for children from infant to 12 years. They also offer some fashionable outfits for men and women.

Now...you must be wondering that how Lola's world Shop is associated with Crafusion and why are they featured in our blog?

Well...we saw something unique in their creations that matched with Crafusion's theme. That uniqueness was their creative use of Indian traditional craft techniques in contemporary styles. Even though being a French label yet most of their products are made in India and probably that is the main reason that we can see an essence of Indian craftsmanship in their garments and accessories. Lola's World weaves sophisticated European designs with authentic Indian fabrics like: cotton, pashmina, khadi, silk etc. to produce a fusion of kurtas, skirts, dresses, pants, shirts and leggings. The tribal and beaded jewelry presented by Lola's World Shop helps to Jazz it up.

We were also fascinated by the bags that were made of leather with Kantha embroidery, some bags were made with the hand-painted art showing day to day life of India. These bags are very versatile and can also be used to carry your daily treasures.

Take a glimpse of Lola's World Shop collection and buy a trendy product for yourself. CLICK HERE.

Lehriya: The Colorful Rajasthani Artwork Display

Lehriya is a popular dyeing technique. Its roots can be traced down to Rajasthan. Known for its vibrant colors and rippled & flowing patterns helps to counterfeit the hot desert weather.

These days Lehriya has become much sought after yet again by the designers to have successfully showcased their collection at the fashion weeks. The designers like Malini Ramani, James Ferrera. Vikram Phandis have lend a contemporary look to the ancient art thereby giving it a new leash of line.

Of late geometric patterns like circles, triangles, V shapes have also made its way to a more contemporized silhouettes. The chic look is attracting a lot of international buyers as well and the trend is definitely here to stay.

Recently a deisgner Malini Ramani presented her collection influenced by Rajasthani traditional art pattern “Lehriya” in Wills India Fashion Week SS 12.

Go Green This World Environment Day

5^th June, celebrated as World Environment Day worldwide is one of the days committed to save our planet. Caring from environment does not only mean planting trees or taking heart-felt pledges, it can be expressed by adopting even a smaller change in your everyday life for example: by switching on to organic clothing.

Organic clothing is made with material that are organically grown in the farms and are chemical free.

Organic clothing has already made a mark in the fashion industry. Few of the designers have started carrying their own brands of organic clothing. To name a few designers who have worked on organic clothing are: Aneeth Arora, James Ferraira, Digvijay Singh, Jason & Anshu, Neeta Lulla. Designer Neeta Lulla represented her handpainted kalamkari collection along with a touch of vegetable dyes to make them eco-chic. Internationally the famous designer Stella McCartney is heading a brand that creates organic clothing faux leather handbags and shoes and even organic sunglasses. Even the famous brand Gucci has represented their latest collection of eco-friendly products. Another attempt towards this cause is recycled products e.g. these accessories made out of fabric scrap by Lakshyam:

Doesn't matter its your clothes, accessories or makeup...organic products can be used anyway to make a step ahead to save the environment.

Indian Tradition Adorned by The World

The Indian ethnic wear has become a new fashion statement by contemporizing the traditional attire. Indian traditional wear has become a rage not only for women in India but in worldwide. The French fasion brand Chanel recently launched its Sari-Sque gown collection inspired by Indian sarees.

Some of the recent examples of few international female celebrities can be seen below who have been seen in sare of late. From Begum Inaara Aga Khan (the 2^nd wife of Aga Kha IV) to Hollywood celebrities like: Lady Gaga, Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton, Anne Hathway, Blake Lively and more have carried off Indian Saree very well.

                

                            

Another traditional wear for women comes as Salwar Kameez. Not to forget the pretty look of Late Princess Diana where she had worn a lovely off-white salwar kameez at an event in India. Recently the hollywood actors Uma Thurman and Debra Messing were seen in salwar kameez in NYC for their TV series Smash. Similarly Catherine Rusoff was seen in a salwar kameez with heavy embroidered panels, dupatta and traditional jewelry at the red carpet.

Its not just the women who are adopting Indian attire but men also don them very well. Recently an American stand-up comedian Jay Leno donned a sherwani suit. Another such example can be seen where the hollywood blogger Perez Hilton wore a sherwani for his birthday.

Lot of credit for this much demanded Indian fashion goes to our Indian designers who have been experimenting and showcasing Indian craft and tradition along with exotic embellishments & uniqueness.

References:

http://drsanjaykumarheartsurgeon.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/world-celebrities-in-indian-attire-india/

http://idiva.com/photogallery-style-beauty/smokin-hot-international-celebrities-in-saris/9040/10

http://indiankurtinj.com/

http://page3-reporter.blogspot.in/2012/03/perez-hilton-indian-sherwani-birthday.html

Designers Playing a Desi Role with Weavers of India

Among many fashion designers in India there are some designers who come forward to preserve the “Swadeshi” tag. These are the designers who have played a major role in revival of Indian textile and weaving. From Chikankari to kalamkari, kantha, ikat and other traditional crafts, these designers have made it happen. They have not only promoted Indian crafts but have also given a new hope to the extincted tradition to survive in this world for a longer time.

We sbring together such designers who can come under our “Swadeshi” tag.

Madhu Jain

A New Delhi based designer Madhu Jain is there in fashion industry since last 25 years. Apparently she has seen the development of fashion in India throughout these years. Madhu's work is famous for the revival of kalamkari, kantha, ikat, dhaka muslin and crafts restoration like: Madhubani of Bihar and nakshikantha of Bangladesh. Working closely with rural artisans and sourcing her fabrics from them, Madhu has always tried to promote craft based clothes while representing Indian culture. Madhu is responsible for Maneka Gandhi's current look and besides this she has dressed up lot of other celebrities too.

Courtsey: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/fashion/designers/Madhu-Jain-the-swadesi-designer/articleshow/12731317.cms

Poonam Bajaj

Another Delhi based designer, Poonam Bajaj has a great passion for design and takes great pride in her varied style and unique functional design that rises above being merely fashionable. Her vision encompasses all the borders of India. She is constantly inspired by the creative possibilities of embellishments and fusion. Her designs are simple yet classy with perfect blend of traditional textiles and embroideries adapted to western silhouettes. Poonam closely work with the weavers and craftsman. Her summer range in chikankari is to die for. Poonam has beautifully merged chikankari fabric with other materials to give the ensemble a more contemporary look.

Courtsey: http://www.thecitrine.com/

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/now,-change-into-cotton/2/101114.html

Deepika Govind

Deepika Govind is another such designer in our list who is doing amazing work by designing outfits using “Desi” fabrics. Deepika specialize in Kanjeevaram, Ikkat and South Indian checks. She also sources her fabrics from small villages of India that houses some of the talented weavers and handlooms. Deepika showcases plenty of her collection during Will India Fashion Week which includes hand-woven fabrics and intricate designs on Indian garments.

Courtsey: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/fashion/designers/Designers-dont-take-advantage-of-weavers/articleshow/12849755.cms

There are more such designers who deserve to tag themselve as “Swadeshi”. If you want to get them added under this list kindly write to us along with a short bio of the designer at: crafusion@gmail.com

Varanasi Weavers – Revival of Varanasi Art of Weaving

Varanasi Silk Gold Wrap Saree

Varanasi, also known as Banaras and Kashi is one of the most religious city of India. It is famous for its rich heritrage and art of weaving on handlooms and carpets. Varanasi houses various small cottage industries that produce handloom silk sarees that are commonly referred to as 'Banarsi Silk' sarees. As per the data fetched on 2009 Varanasi has estimated 300,000 weavers.


The intricate weaves of handloom silk sarees are something that any Indian woman would love to wear.  Over time the cheap imitations of silk sarees impacted the market and so Banarsi Silk being an expensive piece due to its fine work and quality reduced its demand in India. As a result most of the looms have shut down and most of these weavers lost their work or moved somewhere else.


This crisis situation of weavers caught attention of Upasana, which is a design firm in Auroville. Then Upasana along with a partnetship of non-profit organization of Denmark Bestsellers, launched a project called Varanasi Weavers in 2006. The mission of Varanasi Weavers was the revival of silk and hand-weaving techniques of Varanasi. Their aim was to make it a profitable business again and to provide weavers an economic stability.

Art of Weaving

In 2008 Varanasi weavers became a company who works as an interface between buyers and weavers. In near future this company will work as a social company run by the weavers themselves. This way Varanasi Weavers empowered weavers and utilized their skills. They presented traditional weaving of Varanasi into a whole new form and also generated awareness about the same by using the best possible marketing resources. This also helped weavers to keep in tune with current times.


Thereafter weavers started getting orders directly from the designers and other groups. Now they earn sufficient income to fullfill their and their family needs. On the other side the traditional techniques have been coupled with contemporary trends in the right proportion resulting in the rise of interest in Varanasi textiles.


Helpful Resources:
http://indiagovernance.gov.in/bestpractices.php?id=882
http://indiagovernance.gov.in/download.php?filename=files/VaranasiWeavers_BP.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varanasi

Introduction

Welcome to CraFusion!

What does CraFusion Stands for?

Crafusion is a platform where you will see the revival of handicraft combined with fashion. A fusion of handicrafted-fashion. You will read everything about handicraft...how it is made? where it belongs to? what is unique about which handicraft? whats latest with handicraft and lot more such stuff.

So if you are a craft lover and if you love wearing handicraft...stay tuned with us :)