India, Aeshaane, The ‘Icho’ Tussar Peace Silk Scarf

Product name:  The ‘Icho’ Tussar Peace Silk scarf

Beyond fair wages, each purchase positively impacts the livelihoods of artisans that made your product.

Type of product: Slow cloth – Scarves, shawls and wraps

Description (story of the item): I can’t wait to wake up every morning to brainstorm with my boys about new innovative designs. It’s a perfect departure from the real world, getting lost in colour therapy! 'Icho' was inspired by the world’s most distinctive tree, ginkgo that has remained stubbornly unchanged for more than 200 million years. A living link to the age of dinosaurs, ginkgo is revered for the elegance of its leaves. The handmade block came in all the way from Srerampore, a small village near Kolkatta, after being meticulously carved by our master craftsman, Manoo bhai. If you look at the real leaf, it’s about 5-7 cms long, but the block is around 20 cms, just like most of our signature patterns that are inspired by larger than life images. The pattern here forms a type of resist printing template and by using the discharge ink we deactivate the colour used on the natural fabric; it’s like having a negative effect on a positive. The patterns that are printed with the ink expose the beautiful natural gold of the finest ahimsa silk creating a stunning effect against the dominant red.

Artisan story - The network of silk farming is made up of mothers, grandmothers and sons, thereby making cocoon farming a family affair! There is an entire army of rural artisans behind creating this piece of art. Our Tussar silk cloth is a completely handmade artisan product, made by Ravi and his family, who've been weaving silk for the last three generations. They nurture their small dreams in a remote village called 'Bhagaiya'. His mother, 'Shivrani Devi' wakes up in the wee hours of the morning, to remove the fibres from the empty cocoons from which the worm has exited. Soon 'Dadi' (grandmother) takes over by gathering the yarns, and then 'Shanikumar' his brother, spins them by hand using the time-honoured 'Charkha' or the spinning wheel. Finally, to the most treasured part, where Ravi's father 'Shivshankar Ram' breathes life into the Ahimsa using the ancient heritage wooden loom. Each piece has taken at least a week to produce, excluding the harvesting and printing. Each piece is ethical, produced in a small batch and truly a fabric with a soul! Besides earning a fair income from their work, all our artisans have a sense of belonging, a place that they can call their own, that gives them a life filled with love, pride and dignity, where they can benefit from being together as a community. 

At Aeshaane, our artisans

- have a safe and flexible working environment

- Encouragement to use their own creativity

- Ability to work around their children

- Integration into an uplifting community

- Dignified work where their voices are heard

- Options to participate in workshops and other leadership activities 

Workshop - Each scarf is handmade at Aeshaane's in house workshop in a small village in Bengal, where our artisans share our values and produce in a fair way. We celebrate all that is slow, ethical and does not harm the people, animals or the planet. 

Materials: 100% Natural Tussar Peace Silk 

Colour : Red and rich natural gold of tussar silk 

Variation in printing & color are hallmarks of hand block printing and dyeing in small batches. Here’s to celebrating blemishes, flaws, faulty and irregular.

Dyes - Azo-free non-toxic dyes

Handfeel - Light-mid weight, crisp, porous and rich texture, beautifully slubbed. Deep natural gold sheen that lends a lot of character, the more you wear and own them the softer and more endearing they become.

Properties- Tussar silk is cooler than the other varieties of silk, as it is a lot more porous, therefore, breathable. It is light, airy and comfortable.

Origin -Much of it is produced in Bhagalpur, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. 

Measurements / size: L 210 cm W 68 cm

Natural selvedge on the long sides, Tassles on both ends 

Availability / stock level: Dispatched in 21 business days/ Any quantity from 1-100 pcs can be made at our in-house workshop 

In a world flooded with fast fashion merchandise that are discarded as quickly as they are purchased, we invite everyone to slow down and cherish garments that are made slowly and deliberately by artisans. At Aeshaane, we have put a lot of thought into handcrafting each piece with utmost care, dedication and patience. Incredible things are done simply by hand because we believe there is value in what we are trying to achieve. It’s very organic and slow, but that's our core strength. After all, 'Things of beauty have no fear of time'! Each piece is specially handcrafted for you, thereby reducing waste, since items are not produced in advance. Hence, we would be unable to accept returns, unless the piece is damaged or defective.