A thread that binds us all
Chikankari, the pride of Lucknow, is no longer limited to traditional kurtas. In the hands of designers like Manish Malhotra & Gaurav Gupta, this craft gets a makeover
Designer duo Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla have reinvented chikankari into a summer wedding staple
Manpriya Singh
Back in 2010, when Manish Malhotra first put out the craft of chikankari in his collection meant to reinvent the image of traditional thread embroidery, little did he anticipate chikankari turning into couture. Or, did he? With the designer already admitting to wanting to push the boundaries, both for his label and the craft, by translating easy everyday fashion into formal, and even wedding wear couture. “And we’ve been extremely successful with that attempt.” So much so that designer even spoke about the success of his venture during his visit to Chandigarh, sometime back last year. “The reception that we got with chikankari was something that did not happen even with phulkari because women already owned a piece of phulkari handed down to them as heirloom piece. Whereas this was not the case with chikankari.” Not to forget Mijwan Welfare Society, that literally took off, something that happens every time one weds high-end fashion with its roots in ancient crafts. Having been associated with the NGO for over nine years, at the time, he shared, “It is about charity and all that but more than that it is about these women being busy and empowered…From a mere 40 women we have now grown to 300.”
Starting in 2010, each passing season gradually transformed the embroidery synonymous with easy everyday fashion, first to formal wear and later to summer couture. Luxury prêt, if you must. The designer’s Mijwan collection, as showcased at India Fashion Week 2012, saw earthy subdued tones like ivory, crème, dull shades of pink. A practice he pretty much continued with well, into the ninth edition of Mijwan in 2018.
Designer Gaurav Gupta, while showcasing his collection at the opening show of the Lakme Fashion Week S/R 2019, spoke about staying away from Indian textiles all these years but giving into the craft of chikankari. Titled The (Un)folding, the collection in the sense was the unfolding of a new idea for him. In this case, the unfolding of a new line of Indian textiles turned into demi-couture garments. “I have stayed away from Indian textiles for all these years. I wanted to experiment with chikankari by taking it out of context and not just making regular sarees again for it to be seen in a different light,” he said on the sidelines of his show. Reportedly it took the designer three months to curate the range which put Lucknowi chikankari on dresses and worked with Benarasi brocade to create deconstructed lehengas. Given the contemporary twist, it’s hard to imagine that the craft originated in the 17th century courts of the Nawabs. The other designer duo to have pushed the boundaries both for the artisans as well as the craft is designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla. With the duo catapulting the thread work effortlessly into summer wedding wear and often terming the embroidery as, “Beauty at its most sublime.” We couldn’t agree more.
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