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| A heavy kantha embroidered sari at the exhibition. Picture by Anup Bhattacharya |
As the festive fever sets in, its time for traders and shop owners to organise sari exhibitions. The season’s trends have been identified and traditional patterns are back in vogue. Kantha stitch, pashmina work, Parsee embroidery have made their way back on different kinds of silks and cotton saris. Colourful acid-painted silks are also in vogue this puja. For festive shoppers, the best option is to attend an exhibition to get an idea about what’s in and what’s not.
Arcenciel Social Welfare Organisation, that works with street children in Calcutta, organised an exhibition where boutiques from various places displayed their collection. The three-day exhibition was held from August 1 to 3 at Bijoy Krishna Smriti Sangha at Mandirtala. Nine boutiques from Howrah and one from Calcutta participated to sell their latest products.
Pure silks with embroidery or acid painted, handloom silks with embroidery and silks with kantha stitch, pashmina work and Kashmiri work were common items at the exhibition. Chanderi, chiffon and georgette have been replaced this year with new fabrics. Bishnupuri silk with checks or kantha stitch were available at some of the stalls. These start from a range of Rs 2,700 onwards. Expensive handloom silk saris with embroidery were available for Rs 4,000. Simple malmal saris with block printed designs are priced from Rs 600 onwards. Silks with heavy kantha, Kashmiri or pashmina work are priced between Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. Khesh saris that are woven with threads from old saris were also available at some of the stalls.
Kurtis and kameez for young girls were also available at some of the stalls. A variety of these in cotton, cotton silk, pure silk, tussar and even kosa silk in different cuts and styles were available from Rs 600 onwards.
The Rajasthani flared kameez could also be seen at some of the counters. Unstitched salwar kameez sets were also available at the stalls.
One stall had stocked pure silk punjabis for men worth Rs 3,200. Pure silk sherwanis with kantha stitch done all over, came for a pocket pinch of Rs 3,500. Jawahar coats with kantha work cost Rs 2,650.
“Last year, there were a few boutiques from Howrah, so this year we roped in some more,” said Atosi Das of Arcenciel Social Welfare Organisation.
