Women empowerment defines and determines the direction of diverse discourses on women. Economic empowerment of women is the main emphasis of the government. By taking inspiration of empowering women, to support in developing leadership and entrepreneurial qualities, we aim our study to generate new prospects for economic empowerment of women by manufacturing value added products from the remnant fabrics with ‘Aipan’ appliqué. Aipan of Uttarakhand is a Kumauni folk painting having motif inspired with nature and mythology. Increasing concern for reducing the load of waste material on earth, has led to the adoption of approaches like waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Hence, the folk art needs to be adapted sensitively to revitalize and reinvent folk skills with proper quality, suitable pricing and improved designs to meet customer demand and satisfaction. Appliqué is one of the needle craft used extensively in India for textile decoration. The present study was hence planned to develop fashion accessories products using discarded textile materials and their surface enrichment with aipan. Green fashion products (bags of different sizes and designs) were made on the principles of reuse of waste material, using discarded textile material. Surface enrichment of products was done using aipan motif through appliqué technique. The designs were developed keeping in mind their suitability for different designs and sizes of bags. Selected arrangements were used to prepare four bags namely, mobile holder, sling bag, back pack and pencil pouch. The consumer acceptability of the prepared bags was assessed finally to find out marketability of the products. These products can be symbolized as souvenir of Uttarakhand that can be a point of attraction for the tourist and hence a good source of income generation too.

Keyword: Empowerment; Aipan; Textile designs; Waste reduction; Green fashion; Appliqué