Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s handloom brand Boyanika has now ventured into ready-made garments in collaboration with designers from premier fashion institutes like NIFT and NID.
At present, Boyanika has taken on board four designers, who procure raw materials from the company’s yarn bank and come up with their designer creations, including kurtis, kurtas, jackets, designer suits, ladies suits, blazers and many more.
Catering to all income groups, the prices of the new products are ranged between Rs 500 and Rs 10,000.
Opening its wings in a new space, Boyanika aims to focus on the young generations and bring out new designs to set the market trend. “We think we can’t sustain only on sarees. This is the demand of the present era. Also, we are strengthening our e-commerce portal,” said Boyanika’s marketing manager, Arta Ranjan Mohapatra.
Known for the finest Bomkai silk and cotton sarees, Ikat sarees, Tassar fabric, Nuapatna cotton and other hand-woven products, Boyanika has earned around Rs 2.6 crore by selling handloom and silk sarees in the e-commerce space since 2013.
However, the brand also witnessed a plunge in overall growth rate from 23.5% (2016-17) to 9.92% (2018-19) because of the economic slowdown, which could also be a possible reason for the diversification.
“There is an impact of GST, which increased the prices. Even the purchasing power of the people has gone down which depleted the sales turnover,” said Boyanika secretary, Devaraj Sahu. “There will be a downfall in coming years like other industries, but this is a decade-old culture and will not die,” he added.
Set-up by the Odisha government under the aegis of the handloom department as Odisha State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Ltd, Boyanika helps around 43,000 weavers from across the state to earn their living and even promotes their products.
