Jamdani jamboree

I grew up watching my mother and aunts draping the Dhakai Jamdani sari. There's only one word to describe the weave and that is elegant,' says fashion designer Paromita Banerjee, showing off the Jamdani ensembles in her catalogue. But the petite designer's mother and aunts might think twice before stepping out in her latest Jamdani creations — they're not saris but cutting-edge ensembles.

Hyderabad-based Gaurang Shah is also a huge fan of the Jamdani weave and he offers his customers — who include Bollywood A-listers like Vidya Balan and Sonam Kapoor — a range of creations from jumpsuits, anarkalis and also saris in Jamdani. But that's not all — the designer's giving his Jamdanis a very different, trendy look. 'Traditional Jamdani weavers used to do very simple motifs for an older demographic. I tried to change their design vocabulary and pushed them to do really intricate patterns and introduced a lot of texturisation,' says Shah, who mainly retails from his Jubilee Hills boutique.

To add freshness in her Jamdani collections, Aneeth Arora uses polka dot motifs on check patterned fabrics

Jamdani, the art of placing suspended geometric motifs on the surface of almost diaphanous fabric, is making a very modern comeback. A new wave of Indian designers is romancing the weave and their creations — a mix of ethnic and Westernwear — are bold and dramatic.

For instance, Rahul Mishra, the textile superstar, has put together a dramatic Jamdani-themed collection called KISS (Keep It Simple and Sporty). His Spring-Summer 2014 line featured sweeping Jamdani dresses with jersey bodices, long tunics paired with palazzo pants, kaftan-style tops, thigh-slit skirts and more.

'I have not allowed the sporty feel of the ensembles to dilute the purity of Jamdani,' says Mishra, who's even teamed the Jamdani sari with cropped jackets to spice up the look.

Long jackets in khadi Jamdani are paired with palazzo pants in a trendy line by Rahul Mishra

For effortlessly chic looks, Aneeth Arora too is expanding her presence in Jamdani at a fast clip. Her creations — asymmetrical jackets, cropped jackets, knee-length dresses and scarves — use detailed Jamdani work on the edges as well as across the surface.

In fact, Labour of Love, the hand-made line from her designer label Pro, features the Jamdani in a big way. 'Though it's a challenge to come up with something different every season with Jamdani, there are ways to innovate. I have started combining the Jamdani with other textiles, using it on a checked base, and making polka dots using the technique,' says Arora, whose forte is daywear sans glitzy embellishments. Even Anaka Narayanan, designer and owner of the Chennai-based store Brass Tacks, is using modern motifs in Jamdani like tiny birds and floral patterns on fitted tops teamed with flared trousers.

Paromita Banerjee uses typical Jamdani patterns not just as design accents but also to give texture to her fabrics

The designers have had to cultivate weavers to get skilfully done creations. For instance, Calcutta-based Maku Textiles, helmed by NID alumnus Santanu Das and engineering graduate Chirag Gandhi, is teaching weavers in West Bengal's villages the lost techniques of weaving Jamdani and also staying with weavers for long stretches to earn their trust. 'Initially, we bought everything they churned out so they know we are going to be with them for several seasons. Once they realise there is a demand for their brand of work, they feel motivated,' says Das.

Banerjee too has been doing the rounds of the Shantipur-Fulia weaving belt to source customised Jamdani yardages for her ensembles. 'Your rapport with the weaver is very important. They have been practising the craft through generations. So you build your first collection on what they have been already working on and then introduce complexity in your future lines,' she says.

Gaurang Shah, similarly, has been working closely with craft clusters in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal to source their versions of the Jamdani. 'As a designer, I provide substantial incentives to these weavers. Otherwise why would they brave long power cuts to weave saris, each of which occasionally takes one and half to two years to complete?' asks Shah.

Anaka Narayanan offers an urban context to this traditional craft by using quirky Jamdani bird motifs on Western silhouettes

The result of all this is that designers are finding a new generation of customers for their Jamdani creations. The ultimate endorsement came from Bollywood's box office queen Deepika Padukone, who wore one of Mishra's Jamdani motif speckled white ensembles. 'At the Autumn-Winter edition of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week this year, there were several women who were sporting my Jamdani creations. These women would not have picked a traditional Jamdani sari earlier,' says Mishra.

Banerjee's Jamdani portfolio has also found a steady number of customers in London and San Francisco. 'The weave really does well with a global customer base. They realise that there's value addition to an outfit through an ancient craft tradition,' she says.

The lost techniques of weaving Jamdani have been revived by Maku Textiles, which focuses on A-line silhouettes in its collections

But the weave, in its modern avatar, is not just for summers now and it's not only used with fine cotton. Several designers are experimenting with new textiles and incorporating Jamdani for their Autumn-Winter lines. Shah plays around with an assortment of kota, muga silk and raw silk while Banerjee innovates with pure silk yarns too. 'The opaque and translucent surfaces of a Jamdani weave is what creates the dhup-chhao (light and shadow) effect. I create a similar contrast with silk and cotton,' she says.

Meanwhile, new shade cards are being drawn up for the Bengal weave. Traditionally, Jamdani saris usually came in white, off-white, beige and grey. But it's now part of more vibrantly coloured outfits. Shah has used Jamdani weaves with flowers, leaves and bird motifs of varying tonal quality.

Undoubtedly, Jamdani is the runway rocker this season. Designers have seriously taken a fancy to the weave and are putting their own spin on it. But all of them agree on one thing. They're all for giving the Jamdani an edgy makeover but without compromising on its authenticity. Says Arora: 'Yes I have made weavers revive the ancient meenakari Jamdani (characterised by designs with one shade inside another like enamelled jewellery) but I will not ask them to weave chappal and safety pin motifs to contemporise the craft.'

Jamdani jamboree

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