Review - The Fabric of Our Lives: The Story of Fabindia

Image Source - Fabindia.com

The Fabric of Our Lives: The Story of Fabindia, by Radhika Singh 

Fabindia has been my favorite retail brand ever since one of my long-lost friends introduced me to it. I am thinking as to what makes Fabindia a special thing to me and these are some of the answers that I could come up with - an exhibition of tradition and ethnicity, vivid and vibrant colors, natural fabrics and other items, aesthetics of the shop interiors, the lighting, the mixed aroma of wood, clothes and other items. For me, Fabindia is synonymous to sensuousness, but wait, am I here to talk about the book or the brand?!!!

This book is a treat for the fans of Fabindia and it gives a complete account of the brand, since it's humble beginning as an export company due to the efforts of an American who was fascinated by Indian crafts and fabrics.

The book begins with how John Bissell arrived in India as a normal executive to assist the revival of Indian handicrafts/handlooms industry and how he ended up changing the lives of so many artisans and revived some of the dying (pun unintended) art of handlooms in the country. The book moves chronologically from formation of an export firm to formulation of one of the famous retail brands of the country. John Bissell is the protagonist of this book and as can be expected, after his demise, the book tends to get a little – only a little – uninteresting, focusing mainly on business figures and strategy rather than emotions and enthusiasm that till then entwines the flow. One eerie event during the reading of the book though is that of reading about the founder’s demise exactly on the day of his demise - 03rd of March.

Started by John Bissell more for emotional and aesthetic tenets, Fabindia has been doing good now and has become a household name literally, having shifted its focus from selling just durries to a whole spectrum of clothing, furniture, fashion accessories, organic foods and health products, and even special stationery. The founder has been an epitome of emotions, passion, compassion, integrity and assiduousness. Now, if only I could emulate him!