Odisha Ikat makes way to wedding couture

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Ikat is all set to make its place in the wedding trousseau. With brides and grooms becoming increasingly willing to give up heavily embellished couture for ethnic weaves on their big day, the traditional handloom of Odisha is ready to make a grand entry into the bridal fashion market. 
In a move in the direction, the Odisha State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Ltd (Boyanika), launched its Odisha Ikat wedding collection on Sunday. The designer collection brings together an amalgamation of perfect wedding silhouettes combined with traditional Odisha Ikat fabrics infused with a new life. 

Developed by Boyanika’s empanelled designers – Akanksha Sarkar, Binoy Munda, Manas Deo and Purbi Mishra - the collection comprises lehengas, salwar suits, sarara dresses, kurta pajama, sherwanis, kurtas with jacket and indo-western suits, mostly done in silk.

“For over a year, Boyanika has been marketing designer garments based on Odishan weaves. This is for the first time Ikat garments have been designed for a wedding collection”, said Secretary Handlooms and Textiles department Shubha Sarma, inaugurating the collection at the ongoing National Handloom Expo in the Capital City.

In this juncture of rapid diversification in product and design in fashion clothing, Odisha hand-wovens like Sambalpuri and Nuapatna Ikat sarees and fabric, Sonepuri Bomkai, Kotpad vegetable dyed sarees, scarfs and fabrics, Gopalpur Tassar fabrics have created niche for themselves in the State as well as country, said Sarma. The designers said the wedding collection will be appealing to the sensibilities of modern yet traditional Indian brides and grooms. 

They have worked with traditional motifs like ‘sankha’, ‘chakra’, ‘temple’ and flowers that hold prominence in the Ikat vocabulary of the State.Designer Akanksha said the concept of bridal collection in Odisha Ikat – which uses both weft and warp dyeing method - is very new. “We have not used many embellishments in this collection to retain and highlight the beauty of Ikat designs, motifs and patterns having cultural connotations. The collection has been decorated with hand embroidery and exudes elegance” said the 28-year-old designer who is an alumnus of NIFT-Bhubaneswar. 

Akanksha has designed two lehengas and sherwanis for the collection based on themes of Mughal art and the ‘red banana leaf’ in Tassar and Khadua silk.The wedding collection will currently be available in Boyanika’s Bhubaneswar outlets and subsequently be rolled out in all other outlets across the State.