Once a staple at Indian weddings, Banarasi weaves have begun making its way into everyday wear, and most recently, on to the cricket pitch in an Instagram campaign. “Contemporising helps introduce a new language of design,” says Rakesh Thakore, one half of fashion designer duo Abraham & Thakore.
This is what bi-annual Indian textile showcase, Nayaab, hopes to highlight. “Banaras is known for its exceptional skill of weaving, and the community is an ecosystem by itself,” says Sharan Apparao, the city-based gallerist who put together the event with designer Roopa Sood. The latter, a fan of Banaras’ versatility, adds, “Everybody has their own interpretations of how the weaves can be used.”
In its carefully-curated eighth edition, Nayaab will feature 20 designers who’ve been reviving and reinterpreting tradition. While Varanasi-based label Ekaya has given it modern cuts and motifs, Delhi-based Abha Dalmia’s designs merge traditional techniques like phulkari with Banarasi fabric. Such collabs are the way to take the story forward, opines Thakore. “When two techniques are merged on a textile, it is a collaboration of minds that works beautifully, while keeping the core of the conversation to weaving,” he says. Here are five labels to look out for at Nayaab.
Swati & Sunaina Gyasar Banaras Benaras weave. For Nayaab
Swati & Sunaina
The Kolkata-based label prides itself on reviving Banaras’ many complex weaves by reinterpreting them. Credited with reviving the rangakaat weave, their newest venture is the gyasar. Introduced by Tibetan monks, it was done on thick silk-satin fabric and used on furnishings and tapestries. Adapting it to a sari took nearly two-and-half years, says co-founder Swati Agarwal. “We wanted to restructure the construction and make it fluid,” she says, adding that the religious motifs were replaced with Tibetan flowers, while a special gold zari kept the Oriental feel intact. With six designs in the gyasar line, each took up to three to four months to weave.
At Nayaab: Apart from the rangakaat and gyasar weaves, also expect muslin saris with light zari “that’ll work for Chennai’s weather”.
Abha Dalmia brings her Banaras Benaras collection for Nayaab
Abha Dalmia
Among the first to revive Banarasi weaves over 50 years ago, Dalmia, based in Delhi, says, “My aim was to revive traditional designs that people find difficult to do. Now, everybody is doing it.” Focussing on saris, with an emphasis on bridal wear, her line, Royal Trousseau, takes inspiration from various techniques from across India, such as Punjab’s phulkari and Bengal’s jamdhani — but adapting them to Banaras’ weaves. When she envisions a new design, “we sit together and experiment with weaving techniques and patterns till we get it right,” she says.
At Nayaab: Apart from the trousseau line, she will showcase cocktail and day wear saris in silk, organza, tissue and georgette. From ₹16,000 onwards.
Ekaya
A recent Instagram campaign showed women in Banarasi saris on the cricket pitch. Ekaya’s latest collab, with designer Masaba Gupta, sought to “shatter stereotypes around the sari,” explains Palak Shah, CEO of the Banaras-based label. The King’s College London graduate, whose family has been in the business for over 120 years, is looking to position the textile as a luxury product. At the forefront of contemporising the weaves — “it is the only way it can stay relevant” — last year, Shah worked with 14 French designers to create a line of wedding gowns with Banarasi textiles. Ekaya is currently working on a revival project, restoring old saris. Her team experiments on swatches to determine the original weaving process, before restoring it. “We’ve even remade entire saris. This helps teach our weavers techniques that might’ve been forgotten due to the complexities involved,” she says.
At Nayaab: Expect saris and ready-to-wear clothing such as jackets, short kurtas with skirts, and lehengas . From ₹20,000 onwards.
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Delhi-based designer Himanshu Shani’s desire to work with brocade led him to a weaving cluster near Ahmedabad, that works with the Ashavali technique, but using natural dyes (which is in line with his label’s aesthetic). A Gujarati brocade that made its way to Banaras, Ashavali is “one of the founding techniques, and can be considered the origin of brocades as we know them today,” he says. The label is also incorporating hand painting. “We will have a traditional Mughal brocade with minakari work done in Ashavali and then we will hand paint the outlines of the motifs [this will be done in Tirupati],” he explains.
At Nayaab: Browse a range of contemporary designs on silk, from shirt dresses to trousers with contemporary motifs. From ₹20,000to ₹40,000.
Urvashi Kaur, Benaras Banaras. For Nayaab
Urvashi Kaur
A chance encounter five years ago, with a couple selling old Banarasi saris and artefacts at a shop in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri, got Kaur interested in collecting vintage Banarasi textiles. For Nayaab — her first attempt working with the textile — the designer has re-engineered the brocade, hand-sewing usable motifs and borders on to newer weaves. Like repurposed motifs from an old pallu and the shoulder patches of a blouse in an anarkali . Kaur has picked motifs that reflect a “confluence of European designs with Indian craftsmanship”. For instance, the floral motifs she’s used are not “traditionally round”, but more linear.
At Nayaab: From saris and crop tops to anarkalis , jackets and dhotis , the pieces will be available in chanderi , zari chanderi and zari kota , along with silks and Banarasi tissues. From ₹6,000 to ₹43,000.
From August 1-3, at Crowne Plaza Chennai.
