Awareness of youths towards khadi

Khadi---- “The Livery of Freedom”---------------------------------Mahatma Gandhi

Khadi is the canvas for imaginative creations by the fashion designers in present era and since youth are the focal point of fashion, it is important to study the awareness of youth towards khadi products. The study on awareness is very essential as awareness guides a person towards likes or dislike, which is the key factor affecting the shopping and buying habits of the youth.

Khadi is defined as any cloth hand spun and hand woven. The raw materials may be cotton, silk or wool, which are spun into threads on a spinning wheel called a Charkha. Khadi is an Indian fabric, also known by another name Khaddar. During pre-Independence era, the movement of Khadi manufacturing gained momentum under the guidance of father of nation, Mahatma Gandhi. This movement of khadi manufacturing and weaving started as symbol of defiance to discourage the Indians from wearing the foreign clothes. Khadi before Independence was considered as the fabric for the political leaders and rural people. But, now it has found its way into the wardrobe of fashion conscious people.

Khadi is a versatile fabric. It has the unique property of keeping wearer warm in winter as well as cool in summer season. During spinning of Khadi, the threads are interwoven in such a manner that it provides passage of air circulation in the fabric. In addition to it, khadi also provides warmth in winter season. Its easy adaptability to a range of designs makes it amenable to both formal and informal look as well as Indian and Western styles. It has a handcrafted self-texture making each khadi cloth unique and expensive. Its inherent strength makes it highly durable.

Considering various aspects of khadi present paper highlights awareness of youth towards khadi. The study is based on primary data. A field survey was conducted on 100 youths (age group 20–25 years) to assess the awareness of youth towards khadi products. The sample was taken from National level Khadi bazaar at Allahabad and State level Khadi Exhibition, Varanasi. Interview- schedule was used to collect data. It can be concluded that majority of youth view khadi as a fabric associated with Swadeshi Movement and the major cause of low acceptability of khadi is higher cost of purchasing as well as maintenance cost and lack of user friendly attribute. Though maximum respondents used khadi cotton but they reported that it lacks colour fastness.