India’s remarkable legacy of craftsmanship and handlooms needs no introduction. Even the West, for long, has drawn inspiration from our crafts and borrowed them to create fashion lines that have gone on to gain global recognition. While traditional Indian crafts are gaining recognition, there’s still a need to preserve and promote India’s rich tribal heritage through sustainable interventions that not only support tribal arts but also benefit communities.
To achieve the same, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, through the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), launched RISA – Timeless Tribal, a dedicated premium brand for tribal textiles, embroideries, and handicrafts.
The initiative aims to promote inclusive growth by empowering tribal communities economically while preserving India’s rich cultural heritage. The first RISA store was unveiled at Gallery No 2, Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan, Connaught Place, New Delhi, on June 10.
Blending luxury and tribal arts
Currently, the RISA store has roped in five designers to create a luxury tribal art collection featuring weaves crafted by tribal groups from across the country. The roster includes:
- Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla: Changpa pashmina and Dongria embroidery for RISA X Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla)
- Anju Modi: Dongria embroidery, Kotpad cotton for RISA X Anju Modi
- Manish Tripathi: Changpa Pashmina, Eri silk for RISA X Antardesi
- Gaurav Jai Gupta: Santhal cotton, Toda embroidery for RISA X Akaaro
- Sameera Dalvi: Muga silk, Changpa Pashmina for RISA X Moresha
From Assam’s prized Muga and Eri silks to the intricate Toda and Dongria embroideries and unique products like Pashmina silk shoes, the project aims to transform traditional crafts into globally competitive products while ensuring artisans receive a greater share of the value they create.
As RISA seeks to bring India’s indigenous textile heritage to the forefront of the luxury fashion market, HT Lifestyle reached out to officials from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, to understand the vision behind RISA, its impact on tribal communities, future expansion plans, and the role of designers in shaping the brand.
7 weaves have been identified for the first phase. Can you talk more about them?
The first phase focuses on seven highly specific, culturally rich tribal textile and embroidery traditions:
- Eri silk (Assam): Woven by the Bodo tribe, known as the ‘fabric of peace’ because it is processed without killing the silkworm. It offers a soft, wool-like texture.
- Muga silk (Assam): Produced by the Miri (Mising) community, globally renowned for its natural golden sheen, durability, and luxury status.
- Santal cotton (Jharkhand): Distinctive, durable handwoven cotton structured with traditional geometric motifs unique to the Santal tribe.
- Changpa pashmina (Ladakh): Incredibly fine, warm wool hand-spun and woven by the nomadic Changpa herd community living at high altitudes.
- Kotpad cotton (Odisha): Woven by the Mirgan community, this organic cotton uses rare, completely natural vegetable dyes derived from the Aal (madder) tree root.
- Dongria embroidery (Odisha): Intricate geometric and mountain-inspired embroidery hand-stitched by the women of the Dongria Kondh tribe.
- Toda embroidery (Tamil Nadu): A striking, geometric red-and-black thread embroidery executed on a white cotton base by the Toda artisans of the Nilgiris.
How many artisan groups or clusters are currently connected to the project?
In its debut phase, the project encompasses 10 key clusters across the country, which seamlessly cover the 5 distinct tribal weaves, 2 signature embroideries, and 3 specialised crafts mentioned above. Thousands of tribal artisans and families are connected and benefited through this initiative.
How does RISA ensure that a larger share of profits reaches tribal artisans and that the premium pricing translates into better incomes?
RISA functions as an ethical, co-creation value framework that fundamentally bypasses standard middlemen.
- Grassroots profit-sharing: It implements a direct supply chain managed via TRIFED, ensuring fair, transparent profit-sharing.
- Value-addition at source: Instead of selling raw or semi-finished materials cheaply, RISA trains artisans in high-end garment fabrication, establishes local stitching units within weaving clusters, and provides infrastructure upgrades. By elevating the product to a luxury standard, retail margins are drastically higher, directly translating into a substantial increase in artisan income.
Which new tribal crafts or regions might be included in future phases?
While Phase 1 focuses on areas such as the Northeast (Assam, Manipur), Odisha, Jharkhand, Ladakh, and Tamil Nadu, future expansions are targeted at underrepresented tribal strongholds.
This includes the central tribal belt (Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan), deeper pockets of the Northeastern states (such as specialised bamboo craft variants and the vibrant weaves of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh), and the tribal art traditions of Andhra Pradesh/Telangana.
How do you plan to incorporate GI tags and international collaboration?
The brand identity itself is deeply anchored in intellectual property. The name ‘RISA’ is inspired by Tripura’s traditional handwoven attire, which proudly holds a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
- GI tag protection: RISA systematically leverages GI-tagged statuses (such as those for Kotpad Cotton or Tripura Risa) to market authentic provenance, thereby shielding indigenous communities from cheap, machine-made counterproducts.
- Global footprint: By teaming up with elite national designers to refine these products into global runway-ready apparel, the Ministry plans to market RISA at international fashion weeks, luxury global expos, and boutique international retail partnerships to put Indian tribal luxury on the world map.
Are there plans to open additional RISA stores in other cities?
Yes. The first exclusive flagship RISA Store was launched at Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan, Connaught Place, New Delhi. Moving forward, the expansion strategy involves establishing exclusive boutique stores in major tier-1 cosmopolitan cities and high-footfall tourist hubs (such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad), alongside premium digital e-commerce channels.
What are clusters, and what is the aim behind them?
A cluster is a localised geographic concentration of artisans, weavers, and craftspeople producing similar or complementary goods.
The core aims behind organising artisans into structured clusters under RISA are:
- Infrastructure support: Providing shared facilities, modernised looms, stitching units, and safe raw material storage.
- Capacity building: Delivering direct training to refine techniques for high-end markets.
- Scalability and standardisation: Aggregating scattered individual efforts into a unified ecosystem to ensure uniform premium quality, better bulk-order fulfilment capabilities, and collective bargaining power.
Are there any plans to rope in more designers?
Absolutely. RISA was built entirely around Strategic Partnerships with the Indian design community. The first phase rolled out successfully, collaborating with eminent masters such as Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, Manish Tripathi, Anju Modi, Gaurav Jai Gupta, and Sameera Dalvi through the National Design Centre. The Ministry intends to continuously expand this roster in future phases, inviting both legacy fashion icons and contemporary sustainable designers to run design intervention workshops at the grassroots level.
