Collection ‘Kalpana’ – saree story of ‘Violets are forever’
‘Kalpana’ is an Ode to the rich crafts and weaving heritage of India. As a child, I often would accompany my mother to the Block printing units where Maa would get her sarees done. It would be a myriad world of experiences for me –sight, smell, sound, touch, feel – the smell of the dyes and oil , the wooden blocks neatly arranged on the shelves , carved so intricately by hand , the long table where the saree would be tied, ready for stamping, the busy-ness , the sound of stamping and the Hindi film songs being played on the radio as the artisans worked on the fabric accurately !
When I conceived creating the collection Kalpana, I had imagined it to be an amalgamation of various craft forms to go with Hand Block Prints! Embroidery craft form, using various stitches has been in my mind. For that, I had taken the sarees to various crafts clusters of India, from rural Bengal to rural Bihar and rural Karnataka! This saree, ‘Violets are for ever’ has been hand embroidered by the artisans from rural Bihar. We have used long and short stitches and mirrors, stitched by hand! The hand block print and hand woven silk (from a loom in Birbhum, Bengal) notwithstanding, the hand embroidery and the mirrors fitted with multi coloured threads make the saree so unique and artistic!
