Anuradha Pegu; Naturally Anuradha
“I am from the Miri tribe (also called Mishing tribe) and, as far back as I can remember, I have been working on looms. In our culture, it is mandatory we know weaving or no one will marry us. We learn weaving before we go to school. Everyone at our village weaves,” laughs Anuradha Pegu. The 47 year old from Assam brings a collection that she describes as all natural. Hence her brand name, Naturally Anuradha!
In 2016, Anuradha showed her work at the Lakme Fashion Week. “They were looking for original craftspeople from the Northeast and LFW’s fashion curator Gautam Vazirani, who was on a scouting mission, came home and picked me,” she says.
Anuradha brings her beauties to Coimbatore. “I am bringing saris, dupattas, Mekhla Chador, stoles and readymade blouses,” she says. While the blouses are free size, the saris are of cotton, cotton silk and pure silk. “The prices of saris range from ₹9,500 to ₹80,000. The expensive ones are of Muga and hence they cost so much,” she explains. The Mekhla Chadors start at ₹23,000 and go up to ₹75,000 as well.
Speaking of the traditional motifs she uses in her designs, Anuradha says they include animals, birds, flowers and leaves. “The diamond motif is very typical of our tribe. And it is also very similar to motifs used in Thai weaving,” she says.
Mridulika Madiraju; Samasta
A flurry of gorgeous sari pictures arrive in a WhatsaApp message from Mridulika Madiraju of Samasta. “We are coming to Coimbatore for the first time. We will have embroidered saris on Tussar silk from various parts of India. There is Kantha from Bengal, embroidered saris from Kurch, Gujrat, Parsi hand-embroidered saris also known as Gara embroidery... Delicate embroideries, smart prints, motifs inspired by Nature, especially in our Chanderis in silk cotton and pure silk,” says the 41 year old. There will be Maheshwaris and linens with floral prints, which she says are perfect for festival gifting. “These saris are priced in the range of ₹3500 till ₹14,000,” she says. Mridulika is the daughter of Arundhati Menon, the founder of the iconic Shilpi in Chennai (which has since changed hands). “My mother helps me curate and put together the collection for Samasta and we work with craftspeople across the country. We work with a lot of young weavers,” she points out. Mridulika is also bringing brass and glass beaded necklaces. “They will complement the outfits and are great gifts. I am also getting hand-crafted potlis that are embroidered beautifully.”
Somya Tambi; Meekhalio
When mothers and other women of a family lovingly hand stitched simple vests for newborn babies, they embellished it with great creativity. In the Rajasthani dialect, these outfits are called Meekhalio. A lot of emotions went into them and they were passed down from one generation to the next.
“Meekhalio is an ode to that unconditional love of those women,” says 35-year-old Somya Tambi. His current project is with Chanderi saris where tradition, profound simplicity and beauty have been given an added dimension of modernity. “We want handlooms to evolve and connect to the urban population. Otherwise they will die out,” says Somya. So he and his team experimented with different techniques and weaves to see what more they could bring to the beloved Chanderi. “We introduced yarn made from soya beans into the Chanderi to reinvent them.”
Somya explains how the soya yarn has isothermal properties that keep the fabric cooler in summers and warmer in winters. Its tensile strength is better and holds colour really well too, he says. But it was a challenge to convince the traditional weavers, he confesses. “They were not ready to move away from what they were doing. It took a lot of hard work and persuasion,” he recalls.” But the upside is that, in the cluster they work with, the younger weavers are realising they are creating something unique and new. And that they can make more money. My master weaver is 31 years old and the others in his team are as young as 21.”
Meekhalio’s saris have signature borders that are both subtle and modern. The prices range from ₹7,500 to around ₹20,000.
