Online retail meets fashion meets age-old tribal folk art.
Inspired by Jharkhand's flamboyant and edgy tribal art like sohrai and jadupatia, Ranchi fashion designer Sumangal Nag, 35, and his core team are offering folk designs on saris, kurtas, kurtis, tops, dresses, shirts, bundis and the like.
Innovatively, to cut down on overheads cost and offer designerwear at the most competitive rates, Nag and four other core members of his two-year-old company Tribe Tree retail out of their Facebook store.
For a touch-and-feel experience, they take part in exhibitions in both Ranchi and Delhi. In Jamshedpur, Tribe Tree is also in talks with Rusicaa, a Jamshedpur based tribal fashion company, to expand their base.
"Tribal designs and motifs, be it Madhubani in Bihar or warli in Maharashtra or sohrai and jadupatia in Jharkhand, are always fresh and inspiring," Nag, who is a trained designer from Global Institute of Fashion Technology, Calcutta, and has had considerable experience in Jharcraft, said over phone from Ranchi.
"Fashion is a strong medium to promote and popularise Indian art internationally. It is important for us, especially youngsters, to be culturally literate. I think indigenous art forms educate us about the culture of Jharkhand," said the designer-entrepreneur who is bullish about tapping the export market.
So, what Tribe Tree does is fuses Jharkhand's tribal art forms with fashion. All its clothes, Indian or western or fusion, have an unmistakable ethnic touch, like say for instance, an off-shoulder dress with dokra embellishments, or a sari hand-painted with sohrai motifs.
Tribe Tree already has 180 weavers and women who hand-paint on clothes in Ranchi, Gumla and Godda. Most are women. "We interact with them directly without middlemen," said Nag.
Tribe Tree works on two materials, cotton and silk. Their saris start at Rs 4,200, while kurtas from Rs 1,500, shirts from Rs 1,000 and bundis from Rs 2,000.
Asked if clothes could be more affordable, Nag said buyers need to understand that every piece was customised and hand-painted.
Will you purchase an apparel from Tribe Tree? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com
