A Unique Mosaic

Mehta’s collection,on the other hand,was the result of a new collaboration,this time with the Manipur Department of Commerce & Industries. While her menswear,included kurtas and sherwanis with pajamas/ churidars,the womenswear had saris with waistcoats,crop tops with sharara pants and lehengas. Her line prominently featured intricately embroidered mulberry silks,translucent stripes and woven tweeds as well as the shibori and tie-and-dye techniques that are known to be her favourite. Similar jewel tones were part of Hyderabad-based designer Gaurang’s collection called “Stridhan” that highlighted the beauty of the Patan Patola from Gujarat. Patan’s famed double ikat sari takes more than a year to weave,but having started work on this collection in 2012,Gaurang managed a coup of sorts as he showed an elaborate line that also used Parsi gara embroidery,Kanjeevaram borders and gota work. The silhouettes again were Indian with anarkalis,lehengas,shararas and ghagras forming the womenswear segment while his debut menswear line had Patan Patola sherwanis,dhotis,kurtas and pagdis. Nagpur-based Shruti Sancheti too focused on Western India even as she proved that Maharashtra’s textile heritage doesn’t begin and end with the Paithani.

However,what was eye-catching was Rahul Mishra’s full-fledged Indian collection of “lightweight handloom couture”,where he worked magic with Madhya Pradesh’s Chanderi and Maheshwari silks. “I have been using Chanderis and Maheshwaris for six years now,” says Mishra,who is known for his whites.