The oldest memory designer Ashdeen Z. Lilaowala has of Parsi gara embroidery is of a sari that was hand-embroidered by his great-grandmother. His “fondest memory” is of his mother in it, the black gara with yellow and pink roses. Years later, the Delhi-based designer who found his label Ashdeen in 2012, would stitch stories with this very same heritage embroidery, but with a twist. “I use the same kind of vocabulary but refresh the colours, the fabric, the placement of motifs… changing the proportions… merging two fabrics and then doing the designs… bringing in a variety of new elements but keeping the visual aesthetic the same,” Ashdeen tells t2 over phone ahead of his showing at 85 Lansdowne on July 4 and 5.

The “visual aesthetic” that Ashdeen talks about is what makes this art so distinct. “It captures nature in its absolute authentic form… there is no abstraction,” explains Ashdeen who has borrowed elements from it to come up with his “interpretation” of paradise in Emperor’s Garden, a collection of about 50 saris that he is getting to Calcutta. “The saris have floral inspiration with an Oriental twist where we have taken chrysanthemums, peonies and more and we have tried to mix all of these together with mythical birds and create an illusion of a garden or paradise. They have an ethereal quality about them. We have used net or light georgette, fabrics which have that delicate feeling… a feeling of the cloud wrapping you,” says Ashdeen, who has a lot of Bengal karigars working with him. “That’s a Bengal connect,” he smiles. What he connects the gara embroidery or the poetry that is handwork to is a musician making music or a painter at his canvas. “It’s also a lot to do with the mind. The hand and the mind have to work together, yet there is a sense of artistry,” smiles Ashdeen.

The art that is all romance can be traced back to the 18th century. “It started when the Parsis started trading with China… when they went to China, they saw these exquisite embroideries done for the European market. They got it done for their wives on yardage, but, when the Chinese first did it, they had no idea how a Parsi woman looked like and how a sari was draped… it was more like an all-over fabric of embroidery. When the women started travelling, they could visualise how the sari moved and slowly the women themselves selected motifs and patterns which suited their Parsi heritage,” narrates Ashdeen, whose saris are “saris with memories”.

Much like his mother in that black gara with yellow and pink roses.

What: Ashdeen presented by 85 Lansdowne
Where: 85 Lansdowne, 85B Sarat Bose Road
When: July 4 and 5; 11am-7.30pm