New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS): Handloom has witnessed a boom in the Indian clothing market with several brands launching their handloom collections. The latest is Peter England which on Monday introduced its smart formals range for men made with the handwoven fabric. Minister of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani was present on the occasion to support the move.

The menswear brand from the house of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRIL) announced the strategic collaboration with the government's India Handloom Brand to work together to promote the handloom industry in the country.

The announcement was made in Irani's presence along with Manish Singhai, Brand Head, Peter England, and Alok Kumar, Development Commissioner: Handlooms.

Irani seemed excited with the move. She said such steps will widen the scope of handloom in menswear category that was earlier mostly restricted to kurtas.

"Handloom is not only about saris. Yes, in menswear, it was mostly about kurtas but now I am glad that men who want to wear their legacy to office have choices now. The popularity of the brands is an identification of support that handloom sector is getting worldwide. We, at the Ministry of Textiles, are extremely happy with the support that we are getting from the industry," she said.

"We also want to ensure that not only quality products are given to the citizens worldwide, but also ensure that the benefit of those procurement will go directly to the weavers," she added after officially launching the collection.

Singhai said they are planning to extend the range to various levels.

"We are presenting these 17 designs with limited edition collection which are available at 15 Peter England stores in Delhi and NCR. We hope that this partnership goes deep and expand this collection to more stores.

"We have made an humble beginning, but in the next financial year, we intend to procure one lakh metres of fabric from clusters of India and convert them into garments. We plan to put them in 75 stores," he said.

The Indian Handloom Brand was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 7 last year in order to promote the branding of high quality handloom products with zero defect and zero impact on the environment.