“The collection is fantastic. I have eight to nine kantha saris myself, the oldest dating back to 1978,” said first lady Padmini Narayanan, who launched the collection at the store near the Topsia crossing. She said she liked what Osaa had done with Shamlu’s kantha panels, especially the jackets, blouses and saris. The collection caters to the young generation and Narayanan added that her daughter and granddaughters would love it. Pictures: B. Halder

With the wedding and party season in mind, Osaa launched its new collection called Kantha Gatha last Thursday.

Spearheaded by Shamlu Dudeja, the collaboration happened when Osaa owner Adarsh Makharia got in touch with the kantha revivalist and founder of SHE (Self Help Enterprise). “In the past four months, I have noticed that people want to buy Kanjeevaram and Benarasi but nobody asks for kantha. It is a dying art which we want to revive because Osaa is all about modern vintage and we believe in reviving and transforming textiles into contemporary designs,” said Adarsh.

t2 chatted with Shamlu Dudeja to learn more:

What is the idea behind Kantha Gatha?

Kantha Gatha means the story of kantha. The idea is to promote the stitch artwork among the youngsters today or what we would call the “elitist and fashionable” crowd.

How does the collection aim at achieving that?

Through Osaa, kantha has woven its way into modern and contemporary wear. Though the store is stocking only a few saris, the kantha work can be seen on jackets and tops or even skirts with kantha borders along with zari and brocade and other such things to make it more attractive.

In fact, I was surprised to see that Adarsh himself had around 70-75 kantha pieces as part of his original stock. The fact that they are interested in kantha and are calling the collection Kantha Gatha pleases me. The only other person who did it before this was fashion designer Rohit Khosla. He loved my kantha work and I remember how, before he passed away, he would ask for my pieces so he could design them.

I, on my own part, continue to revise and revive kantha to make it more acceptable to the urban people in India and abroad through SHE, where we have 300 rural women of West Bengal using kantha as a means of employment. My daughter and granddaughters have been watching me work on kantha from an early age and they are also into the process.