India’s age-old Benares silk sari – a rich, painstakingly hand-woven brocade – may yet be saved from turning into a museum relic. Once the prized possession of every Indian woman and an essential item in a bride’s trousseau, the traditional fabric is quickly losing out in the popularity stakes to trendy, factory-made Chinese weaves.
But there are some who are looking to change this. Twenty-four of the country’s top designers recently met in the city of Benares, Uttar Pradesh, along with top officials from India’s textiles ministry, to brainstorm on how to reinvent the fabric. Apart from providing weavers with design ideas, the designers have promised to base their next collections on the textile. The new collaboration will lead to a new product line that will be showcased in India before it is promoted abroad.
Slow death
Over the past couple of decades, Benares silk has become starchy, stiff and overdecorated – in other words, uncomfortable to wear. The real decline began after the weavers, hoping to appeal to new customers, moved away from the beautiful motifs and patterns that the fabric is famous for, and began adding cheap embellishments. Consumers began buying silk saris imported from China, which are cheaper than traditional weaves and come in a variety of new designs and colours.
“They replaced the yarn that used to produce a soft, flowing fabric, and ended up with something stiff,” says fashion designer, Ritu Kumar. “They stopped using real gold thread because it was too expensive, but opted instead for a bright-yellow substitute which looked awful and made the sari even stiffer.”
New hope
The latest project, launched by Mumbai-based designer-turned-politician Shaina Nana Chudasama, attempts to bring together some of the country’s best talent to provide the weavers with some much-needed design direction.
Original article by Amrit Dhillon
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Fashion designers give India’s Benares silk a new lease of life
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