How online festive saree shopping drowns out local heritage

Festivity shopping online remains a challenge. It becomes a humongous mess as one tries to navigate the maze of baffling options, and it is hard to pick an original item when, every once in a while, a Facebook battle erupts between big and small business outlets over design and product copy issues.

Asking a customer service provider to clarify the differences between raw silk, Rajshahi silk, blended silk, and Tangail Muslin is a conundrum. Amidst the difficulties, Rajshahi Silk items' sellers face a challenge in attracting and retaining their native customer base due to the Indian varieties of silk-saree materials that are soaring in popularity.

Graced by the benefits of the marts selling South Indian Kanjivaram, tissue silk, blended silk or Banarasi silk items characterised by the dominance of zari motifs, the silk saree items differ in design, outlook, pricing, and variety.

It is now a tide-and-ebb situation ongoing between the edges of native silk materials and imported or cross-cultural materials. On one end, local artisans and heritage-focused sellers aim to uphold the authenticity and identity of Bangladeshi silk. In contrast, on the other hand, the social media setup of Bangladeshi internet users is continuously flooded with foreign products or similar locally produced items.

It is easier to be swayed by what we see on social media, whether knowingly or unknowingly, as information or visuals can create bias within ourselves to a certain extent. Alarmingly, in the presence of cross-cultural products, we face an overly saturated and distracted marketplace.

It is impossible to deny the influence of imported or multicultural items in the clothing scenarios of Bangladesh. It is to the customer's awe that even Jamdani-selling brands, in their quest to expand and establish a brand, sell Indian silk saree items renowned for their gloss and shimmer.

This cross-category mingling of products blurs lines and confuses customers, making them less aware of what is truly local and what is not. A bit further down the line, it gets trickier for a female, usually one who dotes on sarees, to resist the opulence and frequent pop-ups of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or Sri Lankan outlets selling popular foreign items that undergo production and packaging locally.

These outlets, often backed by heavy digital presence and marketing strategies, create an illusion of variety, which further dilutes the identity of purely local creations.

The saree market has been flooded with mutant varieties of Madurai cotton look-alikes and Chanderi Silks, going by a variety of local names. Sometimes, brands even exaggerate their products by naming locally produced silk items after their respective brand names and sometimes associate the modularity with regions such as Bhagalpur, Rajasthan, and Sindh in India and Pakistan.

What was once clear-cut between handloom and hybrid, original and inspired, has now been made ambiguous through clever branding and commercial tactics.

The shopping experience becomes challenging for even experienced shoppers as they navigate an ever-growing number of categories. Confusion reigns when multiple silk materials are branded under the same banner or when hybrid materials are passed off as original heritage weaves.

A seller and owner of an outlet might prefer marketing Bhagalpuri silk and have a separate fan base. Such retailers support their demand market and stay steady by selling products that maintain the longest selling streak.

A customer is now bound to the options offered by a seller, where loyalty plays a role, at least to some extent.

The seller decides and controls the influx of items, whether it is a Pakistani variety, such as the viral Ajrakh items, or an Indian variety that is frontrunning, like Madurai Cotton. The dynamics between supply and demand are no longer organic but calculated based on online popularity, influencer choices, and seasonal trends.

One of the primary reasons for this market situation is the failure to acknowledge and celebrate the country's multicultural roots.

Some items might have been predominant in the market, such as the silk varieties of Jamdani sarees. Rajshahi Silk items, despite being luxurious, sophisticated, and much more agreeable to the weather conditions of Bangladesh (Muslin silk or soft silk). However, our cultural appreciation for a little lesser-known native sarees is a vital contributor to the market situation.

Many buyers are unaware of the rich diversity within native weaves, such as those from Rangamati or the lesser-discussed fabrics of northern Bangladesh. When details and cultural sensitivity about these products are missing, naturally, their presence in the market suffers.

The hybridised market is complex. Local items already do not receive the support, thrust, and cultural appreciation they deserve, and the existence of rampant hybrids contributes to customer demand, as they are limited to what they can easily access.

The simplicity and elegance of native handloom silks, which should have been celebrated and modernised to suit contemporary preferences, are now sidelined in favour of mass-produced, glossy silks and polyester-blended materials that pose as premium.

There is more to explore in the hilly regions of Bangladesh. The most celebrated Monipuri sharee is thriving due to its cultural transformation and bonafide connection to Monipuri clothing. This success story reflects what can be achieved when cultural integrity is preserved while also being strategically marketed.

It takes years of hard work and dedication to achieve a successful status. In Rajshahi City, amidst a crowd of saree sellers, those able to build a loyal set of customers are sellers of original, locally produced items.

They are consistent and reliable, as they are committed to upholding and embracing local and native Bangladeshi products. These sellers understand their legacy and their customer base.

Their existence is not just a business-it is an act of cultural preservation. Such a business policy is often lacking in brands that promote and support imported or intercultural products.

Resolving the complexities in the saree market is a challenge that is both a cultural and national commercial crisis. Parameters such as buyers' knowledge of product origin and details, as well as their intentions, further complicate the issue. However, to empower local weavers and create marketing policies that highlight and reward authenticity, we must further promote native culture.

Without this, local industries will continue to shrink under the weight of hybrid glamour and foreign dominance. The future of local textiles rests not only on the shoulders of artisans but also on the informed choices of everyday shoppers.

The conversation around sarees should shift from temporary aesthetics to their deeper roots so that local weaves not only survive but also flourish in the tides of change.

sofiautilitarian@gmail.com