Translate: Minimalist approach
Vinita Passary founded Translate with an intention of making the upwardly mobile clientele warm up to ikat. She sensed the scope for an understated, elegant line of saris, garments and accessories that built on the tenets of ikat, but in a contemporary language. “Our inspiration came from traditional motifs like the abstracts of Central Asian ikats and kasuri technique of Japanese ikat,” she says. The toned down motifs in contemporary natural dyes, she feels, helps in giving the label a universal appeal. When the team began re-imagining Central Asian motifs, they worked on how weavers here will interpret it on their looms. “Central Asian ikats are woven on 20-inch looms, much smaller than ours. If the patterns can be transferred to a graph sheet and tried on the loom, you can see how it works,” she says. Since the label is dedicated to ikat, weavers were assured of regular orders. “Fashion designers have the tendency to go to weavers, outdo an existing story or motifs for just one collection. Weavers resist, which is understandable. If they are assured of steady flow of work, they do experiment,” she points out.
Despite the increased dialogue about handlooms in recent years, Vinita has had potential buyers asking her whether these are prints. “I have to tell them we do the real deal, the ikat weave, not prints,” she says.
Abhihaara: Rethinking the legacy
“Motifs are a part of a weaver’s legacy,” says Sudha Rani of Abhihaara. Having worked closely with weavers for years, she explains, “Weavers use graph sheets and line drawings handed down from their elders. Originally, motifs were created by observing rural lifestyles. Elephants, cows, temples or mosques became motifs.” Innovation, she explains, came in with prominent textile personalities like the Gajam brothers (Padma Shri awardee Gajam Govardhana and his brothers) and others, who understood changing market needs. Block print patters from Rajasthan and Ajrakh motifs from Gujarat were replicated in ikat.
With Abhihaara, Sudha Rani interprets handlooms in a contemporary manner. “Weavers are also eager because they understand that the sale is better. We also develop samples for designers from NID and others,” says Sudha. She and her team work with a range of patterns, from architectural designs, motifs inspired by monuments, floral and geometric. “You can try anything as long as you can transfer the patterns from sketch to a graph sheet and it suits the loom,” she states, asserting that weavers needed to be given adequate time for trial and error. “The time involved is also based on whether you are working on patterns inspired by Pochampally or Sambalpuri style. The former is mostly easier while the latter is intricate and time consuming,” she says.
UNMA: Fish, ants and lady bugs
Traditionally, ikats from Pochampally, Sambalpuri and other regions have been characterised by specific motifs and patterns. Sapna Vedula, an alumnus of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, wanted to break that predictability of motifs like geometric circles, squares, bars and checks to create a new look. She likes to use individual motifs of birds and fishes than as a part of larger, intricate patterns in her saris and fabrics. “I studied fine arts and used my love for sketching to create these simple motifs. Ikat was a good medium for me to translate these lines and forms to textiles,” she says. For her label UNMA, she works with National Award winning master weavers. Hand-drawn designs are tweaked to suit the looms. “The bird has become a signature motif, though we also do fish, ants and lady bugs. Recently we tried a village theme with a figure of a hut,” she shares. Unma mostly works with 120-count cotton and prefers mercerised cotton for the warp and regular cotton for the weft to ensure a better fall. Sapna wants to try using Eri silk as well.
Ikat primer
* From early 19th to 20th century, Central Asia produced ikats with large, bold motifs inspired by Tree of Life and scorpions among other designs. Ikat wall hangings and robes were markers of power and wealth. Ikat fabrics were exchanged as diplomatic gifts.
* Sambalpuri ikats are known for motifs like lion, deer, peacock, fish, flowers, garlands and patterns like lamps inspired by temples in Odisha.
* Ikats from Pochampally are characterised by abstract and geometric patterns like the squares of double ikat Telia Rumal. Elephants, parrots, dancers and flowers are sometimes incorporated within geometric patterns.
* Patola ikat from Patan and Rajkot, Gujarat, follow a complex process of weaving for double ikat. Grid patterns combined with geometrical, floral, and figurative motifs of dancing dolls, elephants and parrots are common, along with tortoise, shells, lamps and architectural forms.
