Jaypore works with Toda artisans on textile line

Fashion and lifestyle retailer Jaypore has partnered with artisans in Tamil Nadu to create a line of Toda embroidery ‘pukhoor’ textiles. Designed to celebrate the local craft and bring it to audiences across India, the collection includes shawls and scarves.

“In the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, the Toda women weave a rich artistic tradition called Toda embroidery, or ‘pukhoor’,” announced Jaypore on Facebook. “This intricate needlework uses red and black threads to create geometric patterns on white cotton cloth. The skill is so fine, the finished product resembles woven fabric, and both sides are beautiful! This art form is a point of pride for the Toda people, with both men and women wearing embroidered cloaks and shawls.”
 
The Toda craft line has launched on Jaypore’s e-commerce platform with prices beginning at Rs 3,250. The products are also GI tagged to make them traceable.
 
“As the Toda craft is highly specialised and practiced exclusively within the community for centuries, there haven’t [sic] been an extensive skill development initiative or collaborations with external designers yet,” Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Limited’s CEO of ethnic business Sooraj Bhat told The Hindu. “Given its niche nature, the intricate embroidery techniques and designs are uniquely preserved and passed down through the generations of the Toda tribe.”