KOCHI: The sartorial choices of badminton champion PV Sindhu, who wore a traditional Kerala attire during her visit to Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, were handpicked and designed exclusively for her by Chendamangalam weavers.
PC Mohanan, a master artisan at Paravur Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society 3428 in Chendamangalam, specially wove a saree conceptualised by entrepreneur Sobha Vishwanath of Weavers Village, under the patronage and guidance of Save The Loom, which was formed to showcase the resilient comeback of artisans in Kerala after last year’s floods.
Sindhu wore the traditional set mundu when she went to Padmanabhaswamy temple, followed by the Chendamangalam sari at the news conference.
For the official reception that followed, she was dressed in Gaurav Jai Gupta’s handwoven engineered optical illusion satin slit dress and trousers.
Save The Loom and Weavers Village have been at the forefront to showcase the handlooms of Kerala and have been running many programmes, including reviving the Chendamangalam craft cluster.
“It was our privilege to dress up Sindhu on her visit to the state capital and after consultations with her team we came up with the three outfits that complement her personality and also pay rich tributes to the craftsmanship of Kerala,” said Sobha, who styled the badminton star.
“We have been constantly looking at avenues to highlight the work of Kerala artisans and weavers and for this special occasion, we engaged the master weaver to create a unique jacquard design on Kerala kasavu saree,” said Ramesh Menon of Save The Loom.