The six yards of sheer elegance has been wowing the fairer sex in its different avatars. Be it cotton, silk, georgette, chiffon, net or traditional silk, the Indian sari has a timeless appeal.
The Andhra Film Chamber Hall in Gandhinagar has become the go-to destination for women with weakness for Kanjivaram saris traditionally made by weavers of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu.
The ongoing exhibition-cum-sale by Co-optex offers organic silk and cotton saris in bright hues. As one sifts through rows of what is referred to as South India’s answer to Benarasi saris, there is a pleasant surprise waiting. The saris have large size tags attached with some information on them. Curiosity gets the better of you as you start reading and soon you feel a sense of familiarisation with the person who has created the product.
Customers buying Co-optex hand-woven sari will now get to know about the weaver who had woven it too. The tags hanging to one end of the saris say it all — the details of the weaver, his or her age, where the sari was woven and how long it took for the weaver to weave it.
“We have introduced this system recently. Since the tags have a photograph of the weavers and other details, they feel happy that their work is being recognised. Besides being an honour to the weaver, it also serves the dual purpose of educating the buyers,” says K. Yuvaraj, Senior Regional Managar, Co-optex.
The Co-optex has given the format of the label to all the cooperative societies. This is now done only for saris. Handloom and Silk marks are attached to the product so that customers are assured that they are buying a pure silk or a hand-woven sari.
The varieties at the exhibition include cotton, soft silk, kora and silk saris besides shirts and pattu dhotis in the men’s wear segment and bedspreads.
In most saris, the border colour and design are usually quite different from the body. If the pallu (the hanging end of the sari) has to be woven in a different shade, it is first separately woven and then delicately joined to the sari. The part where the body meets the pallu is often denoted by a zig-zag line.
“In a genuine Kanchipuram silk sari, body and border are woven separately and then interlocked together. The joint is woven so strongly that even if the sari tears, the border will not detach,” explains Mr. Yuvaraj.
The exhibition is on till Wednesday.
