We want to make Looms of Ladakh a Global Brand

Lamo Lobzang, CEO of Looms of Ladakh has been with looms since its inception in 2017. She was first introduced to knitting during her 6th standard through her mother. After she had kids she started full-fledged knitting to make caps and socks for her kids. When were you introduced to knitting for the first time in your life? I started when I was in fifth or sixth class. My mother used to knit at home to make caps and socks for the family. I used to try my hand on what my mother used to knit but she would also stop me by saying that I would be ruining things. After that, I started knitting toys and dolls using the leftover yarn. After I had kids, I started knitting and making things like caps and socks for them. As a child, when I didn’t know about weaving, I used to like the tak-tak sound of other women working on the looms. So when I used to sit with them, the women gave me the first lessons about weaving. That was rudimentary training. It was only in 2019, after a 3-month training conducted by Looms of Ladakh, that I started weaving in the real sense. 2. Do you know backstrap loom weaving? No, I don’t know that — but my grandfather used to make chali and phatsa. 3. How did your grandfather learn backstep weaving? My grandfather learned it from his father and my great grandfather from his father. Earlier the family used to teach essential skills to their children. After my grandfather, it all stopped 4. You don’t know backstrap weaving then how you could complete a backstep design at a workshop at Jamshedpur recently? We were given a motivational theme in Jamshedpur and asked to weave a flower. I thought of an apricot flower as it was the apricot season in Ladakh. So I drew a rough drawing and made a graph. This helped me wave the design into the carpet. I also designed a leaf and wove it into the carpet. 5. How can you help in conserving heritage? There is a region-specific production of raw fiber naturally — for example, wool in Ladakh, and silk and cotton in some other regions. The prevailing trend in Ladakh is that people are undermining the local material and going for clothes that are not produced locally. We have to be mindful of what is good and bad, what is useful and what is not. This should be the thumb rule and clothes are no exception. Preserving heritage is not about holding onto the past but it is a practice that is sustainable that needs to be preserved. The idea is wool is natural. Even if you throw it away, it will decompose and become one with the soil. 6. What do you think about backstrap weaving? Backstrap weaving products are almost wool which last longer than any other material and are fire resistant. They do not burn easily like synthetic or manmade yarn. Backstep is traditionally used to make carpets but we should explore other products like doormat, decorative wall piece, sofa cover, etc should be made for the local consumption as well as tourists visiting Ladakh. There is need to explore diverse products using this technique. 7. Do you feel proud of it? I had my first experience of backstrap weaving in Jamshedpur. The flower that I wove. The carpet got a lot of appreciation from the artisans, visitors, and experts who came there from different places. Everyone was curious to know how it was made. It was a proud moment for me and my team. Most importantly, it gave me ideas to explore the immense potential of backstrap weaving 8. Do you know who you are working for in the looms of Ladakh? All the members who are connected with Looms of Ladakh — whether from Changthang or Leh — all of them are the owners. My purpose in working here is to ensure the members (artisans) get their due recognition as owners of what they are producing. 9. Do you know you are the owners? Yes, every member of looms is the equal owner of Looms of Ladakh.

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We want to make Looms of Ladakh a Global Brand

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