A variety of fabrics in striking colours, saris in traditional and contemporary patterns, and silk ‘dupattas’ and dress materials from different parts of India are exhibited in 40 stalls at ‘Silk Fab’ at Hotel Novotel.
The exhibition-cum-sale of silk handloom fabrics is being jointly organised by the Development Commissioner of Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, and the National Handloom Development Corporation.
With Sankranti round the corner, the annual exhibition, which opened here on Saturday, is a shopper’s delight, and offers a range of options to deck up the wardrobes this festival season.
With a discount of 20 per cent, the collections on offer are from the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and other regions.
Manik Roy’s collection of Matka silk, woven with ‘resham pallu’ called ‘byloom’ saris, gives a peek into West Bengal’s artistic finesse in creating handlooms of different kinds.
The stall that is towards the exit of the exhibition has a range of saris in traditional designs, some with contemporary geometric borders set over ‘Matka’ silk and ‘tassar’ fabric.
If you have an affinity for softer silk, the stall from Madhya Pradesh — Khadi Gramodyog stall — has brought a pleasing collection of Mulberry silk.
“This is the first time we have come to this city and we are hoping for a good response. We have completed one expo in Kolkata, where the sales were very good,” said Pravesh Gajbhij.
Assam’s famous ‘Muga tassar’ is available here in saris and running materials.
‘Chanderi’ saris from Madhya Pradesh in ‘patli pallu’ and ‘kalamkari’ prints are one of the new collections here.
Apart from this, the exhibition has the traditional ‘kantha stitch’ from Bengal, traditional silks of Uppada and Kancheepuram, a range of ‘ghicha’ silk and dress material sets in a variety of fabrics.
The exhibition will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. till January 16.
