“Chikan, one of the oldest hand embroidery, came down from Persia to Bengal before making the royal court of the Nawabs its home when it reached Lucknow. Chikankari is restricted only within the 200km of Awadh it is geotagged by the government of India [to protect and prolong the Embroidery tradition].
This fabric quite understated if you don’t embellish it with pearls, sequins, or kamdani. And kamdani is the old art of metal embroidery done by hand, introduced just to make chikankari more flamboyant. Kamdani gradually found its own space and is now worn in a really loud fashion.” Anjul Bhandari elucidates in simple words when asked to describe the two ancient textile decorative traditions she’s been promoting for little over two decades.
The couturier, who showcases a small range of pret in Chanderi at Good Earth, unveiled her Autumn/Winter ’19 bridal couture at Ogaan, Haus Khas Village last week.
Her Jama, Dagla, Gharara, Peshwa, lehenga, saris and anarkali silhouettes sparkle in baby mirrors, Japanese pearls and sequins. The idea of a muted, soft pastel palette – white, ivory, old rose, hydro, mint and sage green – is a deliberate move. “This time, I added a new blue and a colour that’s a mix between pink and lilac, not very loud or dark but slightly darker than the palette what I normally do.”
Bhandari was introduced to these embroideries through her mother-in-law Naina, a social worker who worked with women from low-income families in Lucknow.
In time, the young bride combined her love for the handicraft with her drive to provide a livelihood for such women and started embroidery centres where the women work on the provided fabrics that she ultimately turns into silhouettes for her couture collection.
She used chiffon, organza, georgette and muslin – the latter sourced either from Bangladesh or West Bengal. “We only use the machine in the end to stitch the garment. But next season, I want to develop a capsule of garments in daraz – the oldest art of Lucknow which involves appliqueing two fabrics to stitch together.”
The silhouettes are mostly created in char taar (four threads), do taar (two threads) and even ek taar (one thread) – the number of threads used in every stitch. The effort increases when the thread counts decreases, with ek taar being most tedious and the finest form of the craft technique.