Nationwide Handloom Day: In Hyderabad, Gaurang Shah showcases beautiful handloom saris, together with a muslin jamdani effective sufficient to move the ring check

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Hyderabad-based textile designer Gaurang Shah’s Whispers of the Loom showcased a variety of handlooms from totally different pockets of India, to mark Nationwide Handloom Day on August 7.
| Picture Credit score: Nagara Gopal

How effectively do we all know our handlooms? A routine wearer of handlooms or anybody with a eager curiosity within the sector could be conversant in phrases comparable to hand spun, handwoven, warp, weft, shuttle, loom and might differentiate a Pochampally ikat from a Sambalpuri ikat. However the extra we discover the intricacies of handlooms, we realise how little we learn about our numerous indigenous weaves and crafts. To mark Nationwide Handloom Day on August 7, Hyderabad textile designer Gaurang Shah invited a number of of his clientele for a present titled Whispers of the Loom. Fashions wove by way of the gathering on the spacious Gaurang’s Kitchen in Jubilee Hills, sporting the best of handloom saris, a few of which took three to 4 years to weave. Gaurang interspersed the showcase with a multimedia presentation, providing insights into weaving methods.

The presentation was supposed to assist the gathering, largely ladies wearing lustrous handlooms, admire the heirloom worthy saris. There have been loads of takeaways. The uninitiated learnt the distinction between a weaving sample (ikat) and a floor method (kalamkari, bandhani, leheriya…). These acclimatised to weaves from totally different areas checked out potential experimentations — can a Kanchi silk sari be given a Kota-like end to make the sari lighter? Or, what occurs when weavers in Kashmir are requested to work on khadi as a substitute of wool, to cater to the South Indian market?

Reha Sukheja (left) showcases a fine muslin Dhakai jamdani sari that took four years to weave

Reha Sukheja (left) showcases a effective muslin Dhakai jamdani sari that took 4 years to weave
| Picture Credit score:
Nagara Gopal

Gaurang started the presentation with deal with jamdani, a way that he showcased at his Lakme Style Week debut years in the past. The famed jamdani from Dhaka, painstakingly woven on effective depend muslin, cotton or khadi, has a gossamer-like high quality and, up to now, stated to be so effective {that a} sari may move by way of a hoop. The monochrome white and black jamdani saris worn by fashions Reha, Anita and Candice took three to 4 years to weave and, based on Gaurang, one of many saris is okay sufficient to move the ring check.

Gaurang Shah liaises with more than 2000 weaves across India

Gaurang Shah liaises with greater than 2000 weaves throughout India
| Picture Credit score:
Nagara Gopal

Working with greater than 2000 weavers in 16 States throughout the nation, Gaurang explains how the Dhakai jamdani has weavers counting the effective yarn and understanding precisely what to weave, with sheer observe. “It’s practised arithmetic and is handed on from one technology to the following.”

Then, the presentation confirmed how the jamdani method takes on variations when carried out in Kota (Rajasthan), Paithani (Maharastra), Uppada, Venkatagiri and Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh and Banaras in Uttar Pradesh. Gaurang has additionally begun liaising with weavers in Kashmir who’re engaged on khadi jamdani saris.

From paithani to ikats and Kanchi silks, Whispers of the Loom showcases a range of indigenous weaves

From paithani to ikats and Kanchi silks, Whispers of the Loom showcases a spread of indigenous weaves
| Picture Credit score:
Nagara Gopal

Gaurang added that a few of the painstaking weaves, a metre of an intricate Paithani design that takes a 12 months to weave, for instance, is woven by ladies. “Males inform me that they don’t have the endurance. For ladies, it’s a state of meditation. They end their family chores and weave from 12 midday to nightfall; they weave with a way of calm required to translate these patterns to the looms.”

Ikats from Orissa, Gujarat and Telangana, jacquards from Kanchipuram and Banaras, indigenous embroideries from Kashmir, chikankari from Lucknow, aari from Kutch, kasuti from Karnataka and mochi embroidery from Rajasthan on saris in vibrant hues took centrestage. 

A bunch of ladies dancing to ‘Piya tose naina laage re…’ opened the night, pausing to make manner for the presentation, earlier than lastly strolling alongside the fashions for the grand finale. 

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