In the Stillness of the Himalayas, A Textile Revival Blooms
Jigmat Couture is Weaving a Slow Fashion Revolution in Ladakh
In the high deserts of Ladakh, Jigmat Couture is quietly redefining Himalayan heritage. The ethical and sustainable label founded by Jigmat Norbu and Jigmat Wangmo spins a compelling narrative of craft, wool, and conscious living. BeejLiving sits down with the duo breathing new life into the region’s storied textile traditions.
What is slow living to you?
Slow living is a state of conscious living, a state of mind. It is a meaningful and natural way of life, a thorough approach to positive living. Fortunately, we are born in such a beautiful place, though winter is very harsh, which causes Ladakh to be cut off from the rest of the world for more than half of the year.
However, this landscape has a stunning bareness that encourages a slower lifestyle; it promotes consciousness, reduces consumption, values nature, supports self-sustainability, and fosters a healthy community.
What inspired you to start Jigmat Couture, and what continues to drive your creative vision?
We founded our small, ethical fashion house to revive, preserve, and promote the textile arts and crafts, along with the traditional way of life in the remote mountains of the Himalaya, Ladakh. We are both enamored with the region’s unexplored native art and crafts, given the immense potential to create an industry from local resources.
Although weaving was not unknown in Ladakh, there were limitations and constraints regarding weaves, designs, and innovations. Therefore, our main objective was to explore various possibilities for creating valuable and meaningful products. Back in 2010, with a few artisans on board, we began producing woolen textiles and eventually started crafting beautifully textured, warm, and durable products. The results exceeded our expectations.
Wool has long been part of Ladakh’s story—yak, sheep, goat, even camel. What does this material represent for the local community, and how do you work with it today?
Livestock are the main source of income for the nomads of Changthang. Sheep wool (bal), Yak wool (khullu), Yak hair (rtsid-pa), lamb’s wool (yumbu), Goat hair (ral), Goat wool (lena), and Camel wool (rna-bong bal) are used.
Livestock symbolism in Ladakhi society forms a crucial link between humans and the gods. This concept is visible across the region. One such example is the Ladakhi people making regular offerings to their gods and deities. Each morning, incense is offered at the altar, and later it is offered to the livestock.
Ladakhi wool, especially pashmina, is said to be the best in the world because it has a staple length of five to eight centimeters and a diameter of twelve to fourteen microns. The main reason for this finesse is that the growth of wool is stimulated by the intense winter cold of windswept plateaus and high altitude. All this wool and hair is used for weaving a variety of textiles.
Ladakh has a rich craft heritage. What are some of the traditional arts you’re most passionate about, and how are they being preserved or reimagined today?
We Ladakhi, particularly the Changthang nomads, have great respect for weaving and loom crafts.
There’s a saying in Ladakh that weaving textiles is associated with fertility. The warp is like the mother, and the weaver threads the weft through to make his cloth, akin to the child conceived within her womb. Thus, women are the creators of life.
Jigmat couture still uses traditional drop spindles and hand spindles to spin wool. We have three kinds of looms. Foot loom (thag-sha), back strap loom (sked-thags), and fixed heddle loom (sa-thags). Various textiles are woven on these three looms (nambu, spuruks, challi, phug-shar, tsug-tul, tsug-gdan, ta-gal, lu-gal, ma-gdan, phi-gyis, and ray-bo). Almost every textile woven in Ladakh is used in everyday life.
Today, we are proud to say, the only fashion house in the entire Himalayan region to run a business with a conscience, with products entirely made in the region. Jigmat Couture is a complete ecosystem that truly emanates in Ladakh. We source our wool directly from nomads in Changthang region of Ladakh. Once the wool reaches our workshop in Leh, the entire process, such as sorting, milling, washing, carding, dehairing, hand spinning, hand weaving, natural dying, finishing, designing, cutting, stitching, and embellishing, is done under one roof. It is truly farm to fashion, even retailing from our stores.
What responsibility should luxury brands undertake?
Luxury is a state of mind and conscious living. Luxury labels should take social and environmental responsibility.
Previously considered rough and raw, wool was used only for domestic purposes; we have managed to transform the fiber into an exceptional product that connects remote, spiritual Ladakh to the luxury market.
Our work combines tradition and innovation. While fast, unethical fashion dominates, we offer couture that is long-lasting and ethically produced, free from harmful chemicals and safe for your skin as well as the environment. We produce in small batches, pay fair wages to our artisans, upcycle our textile waste, and work on projects, such as the artists’ residency and the textile museum to benefit the local economy.
You launched a textile museum just before the pandemic. What was your vision behind it, and how has it evolved since?
Ladakh is known for its exquisite handicrafts. Fresco painting (thanka), Clay molding (dzog-tsu), Wood curving (shin-khan), weaver (thak-skan), Garment maker (tsem-po), and Goldsmith (ser-gar) are some of the forms.
In recent years, Ladakhi textiles have created considerable interest among students and professionals, yet no venues existed to study and explore crafts in depth. More importantly, the local artisans themselves had no place to view their ancestral art and to consider the creative possibilities.
The Textile Museum of Ladakh by Jigmat Couture has a healthy social mission to preserve Ladakhi culture. We felt the need to come up with a space where one can simultaneously study, apprentice and receive training in traditional textile art forms. Besides, a portion of our profit goes into various projects like artisan skill development workshops and research projects. Eventually, we hope to pass on in-depth knowledge and impart an appreciation of our culture.
The museum features a heritage house, which was once used as a caravan sarai during the Silk Route and is now being used as a private art gallery. The newly constructed textile museum follows traditional style architecture and uses local materials. We have incorporated all the important elements of Ladakhi architecture, such as Rabsal, Chong-tsay, Sum-stig, Yabs, Nima-lagang, etc. Another notable feature is the details in wood carvings which have mostly textile motifs.
The building has three levels. The first level is the museum itself, the second level is the Jigmat Couture studio, and the third level has a workshop for traditional spinning, weaving, and dying. It includes an in-house library and a resource centre, accommodating every collection of Jigmat Couture’s research and development samples.
Though the museum primarily focuses on textile art, yet our exhibits include a great variety of ancient articles for daily use along with traditional costumes from remote regions. They embody diligence, intelligence and the persistent pursuit of beauty and creativity.
Sustainability is a work in progress. How does Jigmat Couture make processes as ethical and responsible as possible, whether through materials, local partnerships, or production methods?
We can only aspire to walk in the direction of sustainability, but achieving 100% sustainability in operations is impossible. Our resources are local. The wool that we shear or comb doesn’t harm animals. We use traditional methods for dehairing, spinning, and weaving our textiles. We work with undyed or naturally dyed textiles. We work with local artisans who are paid a fair wage and provided good working conditions.
Our products are free from harmful chemicals. We produce only small batches and do not use non-biodegradable trims and packaging material. As a part of our goal to reduce environmental impact, even our carry bags are upcycled and reusable. We upcycle textile waste to make dolls, puppets, and stationery etc.
What kind of dialogue do you think needs to happen between conscious brands and consumers around sustainability?
Since the pandemic, we’ve heard the word ‘sustainable’ more times than we have in the past decade. We have observed that consumers want brands to embrace ethics and sustainability. Yet a frustrating paradox remains at the heart of green businesses, as a few are misusing this term for greenwashing.
Consumers, too, have negative associations with sustainable products, viewing them as lower quality, less aesthetically pleasing, and more expensive. Brands need to work on educating consumers about positive change and its benefits.
Spirituality and tradition run deep in your designs. How have Ladakhi beliefs, nomadic life, or even practices like tantra influenced your aesthetic?
Some of my art pieces hold a deeper meaning. The Tiger ‘stak’ is an integral part of the region’s mythology and is feared and respected. Tantric sages used Tiger skins as meditation seats.
In Tantric Buddhism, the Tiger represents the transmutation of anger into wisdom and insight, and also protects the person meditating from outside harm or interference.
Woven rugs with Tiger motifs are still favoured for meditation today. Over the years, I have painted a few using stone and mineral colours, translating them into weaves. The limited-edition, signed tiger rugs were an outcome of those paintings.
As locals, what are some of your favorite places or rituals in Ladakh? What should visitors experience to truly understand the region?
I encourage slow travel. Eat local food, and visit monasteries with the utmost respect. Step into Leh’s old town to soak in the charm of Ladakh. Do visit villages and stay with a local family.
You can support various NGOs involved in cultural pursuits, such as Lamo, LeDeG, Nirlac, Loti, Women Alliance, Himalayan Heritage, etc. Other health and education non-profits you can donate to are Mahabodhi hospital, Ladakh Heart Foundation and SECMOL, 17000 ft, and Pagir.
