My love for handloom comes from my mother who loves sarees.

I was born in Benaras into a renowned business family. When I came back home after finishing my studies I was eager to learn as much as possible about my own city as much had changed since I was last here. Evening rituals consisted of a visit to the Ghat through the bustling lanes of Benaras and I spoke to the bunkars here who spoke of the quickly diminishing weavers’ community in the city and how the city, its sounds, weather, Ghats, architecture and being so close to the Ganga was what brought them the inspiration to create these beautiful garbs. They loved what they did but as breadwinners of their families many were not sure if they could keep this up or would want their own children to continue their legacy. I understood their dilemma. The rise of power loom and the usage of cheap synthetic fabrics is posing a big challenge for these weavers who cannot compete with the production capacity of these machines. But as I would like to let you all know, these machines can’t compete with the versatility in designs, variety and quality that a handloom product will offer.

Together with these weavers I started Benaras Looms with the idea of offering the world our own designs and the artform that has been protected and passed down through generations over centuries in this ancient city. Over the past few years of working together with these weavers I have loved playing with the different colours and the creative mix of designs and textures. We envision to create products that use the Banarasi weaving technique keeping up with the international design trends and are committed to delivering these world class products to the connoisseurs of art and handlooms across the world.

Thanks,

Ayushi Agrawal

(Founder)