Cheap, Chinese-made nylon burkas are flooding Afghanistan’s north as consumers turn to affordable, mass-produced fabrics — but in Kabul a small, determined fashion house is fighting to preserve the traditional textiles once integral to Afghan culture. Launched in 2006, “Zarif” — “precious” in Persian — commissions traditional cotton and silk from artisanal weavers, then employs … Read More →
Ditch the mundane lehenga for the upcoming wedding season. Wear a georgette belt with a flowy drape, sport cigarette pants underneath embellished sheer lehenga of soft net, experts suggest. Fashion Designers Anu PD and Mini Bindra have listed few ideas: * Wear a georgette belt with a flowy drape and embellishments with your wedding lehenga. … Read More →
The growth of e-commerce continues to wreak havoc on traditional retail and its workforce, with 5,300 store closings announced in the first half of 2017 and 64,000 job cuts expected. What will become of the 16 million Americans who work in the retail industry as current trends toward online shopping continue? Economics correspondent Paul Solman … Read More →
In the Hindu Kush mountains craftswomen painstakingly stitch flowing scarves, skilled artisans who were unable to sell their products beyond the remote region until mobile internet came to Pakistan and dropped the market into the palms of millions of previously marginalised people. The women of northern Chitral are among the unlikely profiteers of an e-commerce … Read More →