A plowed field lit up the runway in white lines, looking as much like a neon zebra crossing as a raw plantation of rice. This 21st-century requiem to an ancient crop was a unique touch to Anurag Gupta’s ‘Kalanamak’ collection at Lakme Fashion Week Spring-Resort 2020.
Kalanamak is one of the finest rice in India, grown at the foothills of the Terai belt in Siddarth Nagar for centuries. It is fabled that when Buddha was passing through the Bajha jungle, he was stopped at the Matha village by the people to whom he gave the rice he was carrying as ‘Prasad’. This tale is so integrated into the culture that Anurag Gupta, as a child thought it was a common children’s story. It was only later that he discovered the stories he grew up listening to are losing their polish, much like the raw black husk of the rice is dying into ignorance.
It was a personal journey to then inculcate elements of this profound history of farmers and of his community into the Khadi collection. Motifs of rice sheafs adorned white floating garments, a lightweight soliloquy to the ironic endeavor laden with struggle.
Returning to our roots with an emphasis on Khadi, contemporary silhouettes lined the show, going street with crisp lines, balancing chic with a sartorial approach. Transported to European ease with the effortless, intriguing frames, the garments created a sophisticated niche with stalks of rice and local embroidery edging the flow of asymmetrical hemlines.
The revival of ‘Kalanamak’ in the unpolished threads of Khadi stands in solidarity with the depth of thought that has gone into each design, from the hues of a clear blue sky and minimal lines of a khet on a basic, breezy canvas.
Anurag Gupta as a label brings the artistic expression of today to the tales of the past, cultivating a profound appreciation for the black pearl of Uttar Pradesh.
“All design practitioners can get stuck at times, but what I
value the most is the rare time that one is in the flow…oblivious to the rest
of the world, totally focused on a concept or idea.”
Hema Shroff Patel, founder of Amba experienced this soulful connection on the banks of the river Narmada. Working with the Holkars at Rehwa Society, a Maheshwari handloom charitable trust, she began her exploration into weaving at a grassroots level with a simple appreciation for the handwoven cotton fabric with small borders which she had tailored into kurta pajamas for children. She organically grew from this homegrown affair to promoting and preserving the Indian handloom industry.
When asked about the current sustainability buzz, her words reflected her empathy towards Indian artisanal crafts. As a designer, sustainability is an inquiry into oneself, and the ideology goes deeper than a superficial trend. This, for Amba, begins at home: in the profit-sharing scheme, they seek an organic business model, upskilling the artisans and giving a touch of humanistic structure to the entire hierarchy.
Weavers have the advantage of working from home and have access
to social welfare programs held in the community and organized by Patel. When
asked about how the weavers are empowered, Patel said, “Weaving is a
good source of income, especially with families where all members participate
and work. Several processes are ancillary practices that aid the weaver. Hand
spinning fiber, bobbin winding, and warping all fall under this category.”
A cultivated understanding of weaving as an indigenous art has led to Amba’s transparent foundation and function as socialistic entrepreneurship.
“It is a great debate these days over art versus craft, but
where do handwoven textiles fall in this category?” Indian
textile history marks the use of handloom weaves dating as far back as the
Harappan civilization, tracing a path through a time when royals coveted
textiles and artisans were members of a guild. The Arthashastra mentions
specific fabrics like white barkcloth, Banaras linen, cotton from South India
and blankets of soft, wispy fabric. The techniques and mathematical patterns
involved in weaving these have been passed down through generations in a
household, the industry being notably inclusive of women in times when they
weren’t allowed to hold jobs.
In medieval times, the industry flourished when a ruler was
inclined towards the arts and distinct fabrics from local regions were
cherished.
With respect for this deeply rooted legacy, Amba dedicates itself to handwoven fabrics and natural dyeing. Natural dyeing requires in-depth research on the complexity of fibers used to weave fabric and the strength at which a particular fabric absorbs dyes. It can also be affected by the count of the yarns. But after this intricate process, the design reveals itself from months of sampling on a loom.
She admires interesting craft techniques in other contemporary
designers as well, noting the innovative perspective on Bodice’s work in Kullu
on craft traditions. She also admires Padmaja’s spirit in her dedication to
working with WomanWeave during the four years of fabricating design banks for
her silhouettes.
As any ethically inclined label, Amba, alongside its craft
technique evolution, endeavors to underline responsible living. Patel’s
response to how a label can follow responsible fashion states that, “Every
label that concerns itself with these practices need only to address the issues
in the industry related to child labor laws, the factory environment in which
their clothes are woven, stitched or made, or how they deal with their waste,
and by-products of their design.” This vision is crucial to our commitment
to the earth, and it must be passed on to the newcomers in the field.
Patel looks to the newcomers as well, like Wasim their master
weaver, trained at The Handloom School, founded by Sally Holkar, to carry out
Amba’s work. “Our goal is to share our knowledge in fiber development and
keep pushing contemporary boundaries with our traditional two peddle, double
shuttle loom.”
Her message to handloom weavers starting their sustainable
brands is to craft their textiles with instinctive attention to their regional
crafts, as weaving is becoming homogenous.
“It is important for weavers to learn how to reinterpret
traditional design elements with contemporary design skills which will retain
their textile DNA, so one always knows the origin of the textile.”
This is the key to continuing the Indian textile heritage, the
tenacity of handloom weaving, not borrowed, but grown from within. Amba stands
for these values striving to pass down these skills from one generation to the
next.
Ambi by Sujata Pai has a distinct quality of making unique and cherished sarees from the rich heirloom of India. Her vision to showcase Indian textiles with a different eye is threaded through a needle passing through the time it has taken to inculcate this skill into a community of weaver families.
The simplicity of this concept is that it’s homegrown, tracing our roots back to ancient folklore and fables. These are etched into the motifs that are typically used in Ambi sarees- mango motifs, to follow the name, peacock feathers on a breezy pallu, elegant paisley pattern, lotus, and animal motifs. Her home base being Chennai, she herself is a voyager, setting up her printing in Delhi, and empowering weavers from all across the country with specialized local skills that make them unanimous experts in the craft of a particular weave.
The ancient weaves that have traveled from as far as the Byzantine empire are seen in Ambi’s one of a kind piece, embroidered with zari from Kutch mud plains of Gujarat. Ambi brings together fabrics and weaves of fine artistry and craftsmanship with a beautiful movement that creates a singular element to diversity. From the Banaras tradition to mulberry silkworm that has woven light as air Maheshwari silk, the sarees are a poetic eulogy to lost crafts.
The sunsets of South Indian hills fall over one fabric that takes to the Gota Patti work of Rajasthan sand dunes, and in the magic of the desert night, slip to the Bramhaputra with Muga Buta silk, the identity of Assam for a new dawn.
This journey of fabrics is seen in every piece by Ambi, cherishing crafts long borrowed from the 20th century France, antiques of Bali and even so far back as the Persian dynasties, breathing innovation in these threaded creations.
Woven seamlessly into one piece, the fabrics are intuitively in tandem, a dance of hues and patterns that carry the remnants of age-old heritage.
