Once Upon A Loom

A four-decade-strong family legacy, a global-local aesthetic and a focus on technology—when it comes to their scarves, Shingora’s Amit Jain and Marta Santambrogio have it all wrapped up.

- Aditi Bhimjyani

Tradition and technology, local and global, luxury and pop culture—when it comes to describing Shingora’s aesthetic, Amit Jain’s lexicon is peppered with these words. As the managing director of his family-run business in Ludhiana, Jain says he’s simply carrying forward his parents’ vision. “In the last four decades, we’ve come to be recognised as one of the leading industrial-scale manufacturers of scarves globally, with clients across America and Europe,” he says with understandable pride.

The Shingora facility is located in Ludhiana, where some 850 employees work in a 50,000sqm area divided across various departments. “Our production capacity is 1,50,000 per month, including printed and woven pieces— on 115 jacquard powerlooms and handlooms,” explains Jain. Alongside this is the sustainable development of the green cover around their factory and their dedication to the Shingora Family Foundation, which currently provides quality education to 56 underprivileged girls aged three to 17 years.

LEAVING A MARK

At Shingora, man and machine come together to create their detail-laden shawls. “Even our aari shawls are embroidered using a machine that is totally powered by the hands of skilled local craftsmen,” explains Shingora’s creative director, Marta Santambrogio, an alumnus of London’s Central Saint Martins and Etro, where she spent six years in textile research and development for scarves, shawls and womenswear.