ROOTED IN PERMANENCE
At these ateliers, couture is translated through the bespoke element of craft so that every creation, shaped with precision and patience, becomes silent luxury where the process itself becomes as meaningful as the garment
WORDS by SHARMI ADHIKARY
In the number-driven world of fashion, sustaining a heritage craft is fraught with challenges. Yet, there are consummate artists continuously celebrating age-old hand embroideries through exquisite couture and crafting them in their most authentic and intricate form. They recognise the value of the laborious artisanal work and deeply respect the resilience of our country’s craftspeople, which has floored the world for generations. This legacy is chronicled in a narrative of elegance that is timeless and adheres to the sanctity of quiet luxury.
GILDED GLORY
A heritage heirloom brand at heart, Divani, founded in 2013 by Sanya Dhir, honours the nostalgia and lingering beauty of ancient Awadh, reviving authentic, hand-crafted zardozi as a living instance of romance and dreamy elegance. The design vocabulary is deeply rooted in the original art of zardozi, tracing back to its raw form, ‘Kalabatun’. This technique was earlier practiced with silk threads wrapped in real gold and silver wires.
At their atelier, you will notice a concentration on ek taar tanka to farisha and kutki kaam, using certified copper, gold, and silver threads, embellished with pearls, and precious stones. “Divani pieces are intended for connoisseurs who value authenticity, heritage, and timelessness and those who believe in heirlooms over fast fashion, and in couture that tells a story of lineage, nostalgia, and cultural pride,” explains Sanya.
Through their ‘Zardoz Project’, Sanya’s team revived rare techniques including farisha, kutki, motichoor and khiccha. “Everything was hand-dyed and handcrafted by our master craftsmen, many of whom represent the last generation of living zardozikars. The atelier preserves distinct techniques, each with its own historical and regional identity. This dedication not only protects the purity of the art form but also ensures that its nuanced language is not lost to mechanisation or commercial dilution,” informs the aesthete.
AWADHI ALLURE
The beauty of Indian craftsmanship lies in its versatility – the manner in which one craft can be amalgamated with another to give a new dimension to the finished product. For instance, in couturier Anjul Bhandari’s design world, the heritage art of Chikankari comes together gloriously with zardozi and kaamdani rendering an exquisite finish to the couture ensembles.
“Our creations have always carried the beauty and intricacy of ek-taar and do-taar Chikankari. Our interactions with Awadhi craftsmen inspired us to create something unique that would integrate other art forms from the region. Two main ones were zardozi and kaamdani ,” she says.
Anjul also mentions the collection ‘Tanzeb’ that reflected the craftsmanship of master artisans above the age of 60. “These people are the repositories of not just sincere craft knowledge on ancient motifs and patterns but also techniques that are hardly used. For Tanzeb, we encouraged them to revisit them,” Anjul explains.
Each Anjul Bhandari ensemble flaunts the dexterity infused in traditional stitches of hool, bakhiya, kapkapi, bijli, chain, murri, jaali, karnphool and phanda. During summer, the atelier also works on crepe shawls beautified by traditional do-taar Chikankari to make the essence of luxury relevant across seasons for connoisseurs with a yen for timeless craftsmanship.”
GRAND GARA
Fabric and embroidered garments were always part of Ashdeen Lilaowala’s life. Growing up in a Parsi household in Bombay, he talks of fond and distinct childhood memories of being dressed with his sisters in traditional jhablas for festive occasions or in a dagli and a kor saree for fancy dress parties.
“Luckily, these nostalgic moments were photographed by my parents. Those tinted pictures have become tangible mementos of the past as well as inspiration for some of my collections,” says Ashdeen, who after graduating from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, travelled across India, China and Iran with the UNESCO Parzor Foundation documenting the Gara and to learn about its history and evolution.
In 2012, he launched his eponymous label to enliven the artisanal splendour of Parsi Gara. “My journey with the Gara feels very personal. To me embroidery isn’t just beautiful, but it’s a living tradition I’ve dedicated my life to stewarding,” the couturier says.
Playing with realistic Oriental motifs such as cranes on a lake, chrysanthemums, bamboo shoots and leaves, roses and butterflies, Ashdeen also employs his own perspective into the creations. “Earlier butterflies would be amidst a floral jaal; I wanted a cluster of butterflies bursting out. We took one element and turned them around to fit a contemporary mood board even while holding on to the fundamental technique,” he says.
“The forbidden stitch or the Peking knot is a meticulous stitch used in Parsi Gara embroidery. It’s closely related to the storied French knot technique and it’s been rewarding bringing these embroidery techniques back to craft consciousness,” Ashdeen reflects on his upward moving design graph.
ODE TO TASTEFUL EXTRAVAGANCE
Bringing back the glamour of 1950-60s, a decade when detailed construction and exquisite embellishment formed the core of Parisian fashion, Atelier Shikaarbagh’s very existence is nurtured by the Maayankraj Singh, the founder’s memories and musings of his paternal grandmother, Urmila Raje, who was cousin to Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur and married at a very young age to the aristocratic family of Kayasthpada, Dholpur. Travelling around the world and India with her husband, the noble lady fell in love with Kota in Rajasthan, where the family eventually settled in, in 1965.
Maayankraj’s work reflects his deep appreciation for heritage needlework techniques – aari, zardozi, farisha, nakshi, taarajadai, motijod, marodi as well as French embellishments of knotting, sequin work, Chantilly lace work, pearl work, silk flossing and crewel work.
“We must cherish these crafts as they represent the workmanship a human hand is capable of; something my grandma, Urmila Raje believed in and a thought process Atelier Shikaarbagh celebrates every single day,” he explains.
Understanding how the Western market has always been dazzled by the embroideries of the East, he has been dabbling with the same on Western silhouettes, too, thereby displaying the crafts on a wider canvas and amplifying their reach. The overall design vocabulary of the label, however, is focused on tasteful embellishment that appeals to the discerning, irrespective of geographical boundaries.
“Even in those, the aesthetics are unabashedly Indian; something that celebrates my nation and its people.”
PERFECTLY PIECED TOGETHER
Anecdotes and information about the lesser known details of Awadh’s costume chronicles pepper the conversation with Asma Hussain, who is known for bringing back silhouettes and heritage crafts reminiscent of the fashion forward of the princely and elite circles of Lucknow.
Considering her family legacy can be traced back to the erstwhile royal family of Awadh, her grasp in the subject comes through as she deconstructs the details behind a gorgeous emblem of Awadh’s imperial couture.
We are referring to the superlative tukdi ka kaam, which is actually celebrating the manifestation of geometry on textiles.
“Small pieces of silk were cut up in coordinated shapes. These were then stitched onto the base fabric of the gharara using real zari or resham threads to form a geometric pattern. When completed, one would notice a kaleidoscopic pattern that caught the light and glimmered with a multidimensional effect,” explains Asma.
This was not just fine art through fabric embroidery; it was the creation of a different textile itself that also boasted of different design elements focused on the form of the fish, the flower or simple geometry.
“There are names for these designs, as well. For patterns resembling the fish, we use the term Maahipusht. For florals, it is Phool and Harshpehel,” she informs.
In modern parlance, and with the erosion of fine aesthetics, tudki ka kaam was misnamed as chatapatti. But aristocratic families in Lucknow would chide the artisans if they used this word.
“For the elite and those who still live by the refined standards practised many moons ago, it will always be tukdi ka kaam se shajaya hua gharara,” Asma’s voice trails off