Anshul Gupta talks about some Indian embroidery traditions that have evolved to make a style statement even today

One of the most enduring artistic traditions in India is its myriad embroidery forms. Each state and region possesses its style, but needlework is not just a way of decorating it. These textiles are also intertwined with community stories, with motifs emerging from their natural, financial, and socio-political environments.

Many of those old and occasionally overlooked embroidery styles are revived and popularised as handmade items are re-applied as new embodiments of luxury. Not only designers in India, but also international labels are popular among these techniques.

In reverence to the country’s assorted weaving customs, here is a portion of the procedures that have discovered new articulation in the progress of contemporary style creators.

Gara

Vital to the closets of Parsi women, gara is a fusion of embroidery from India, China, Persia and Europe. Customary at weddings, gara saris have multifaceted themes — from pagodas and mythical serpents to roses, lotuses, chickens and peacocks.

Known for its striking beauty over several centuries, depicting the Parsi’s culture and tradition, gara is aesthetically colourful and delicately presented. It is characterised by style and elegance. These sarees take more than six months as embroidery work is done on all four sides, making it truly tedious and complex.

Kashida

Kashida is a well-known Kashmiri embroidery technique, customarily done on clothing like stoles, woollen pherans and carpets. Birds, blooms, products of the soil-especially the chinar are made. One more type of Kashmiri weaving is aari, wherein flower propelled themes are woven in a fine chain with a hooked needle.

Kashmir embroidery is mainly done on regional shawls and garments such as pheran (wool kurtas), gabba (bigger wool rug) and namdaah (small wool rug) and stoles. Today, kashida is also used to decorate household items such as bedsheets, pillowcases, lampshades, bags and other accessories.

PETIT POINT 

Petit point embroidery originated in France in the 18th century and is still quite common in Europe.

The European colonialists and missionaries brought it to India. It is a stitch constructed diagonally across the intersection of each horizontal and vertical thickness of a canvas mesh, on which the base matter is placed. The stitches are so small, that a myriad of details, colours and shades can be found in a very small area. The number of points per sq inch can be as high as 1,000. Petit point hand embroidery has now made its way to sarees, kurtas, dresses, dupattas, cushions, clutches and evening bags.

Kantha

Initially made by ladies in rural Bengal and Odisha, kantha was utilised to make covers. Utilising a straightforward running stitch, it is themed around day to day existence, botanical and creature themes and mathematical shapes.

Kantha is now available on kurta and dresses.

Zardozi

Zardozi, a form of metallic weaving, utilises fine metal wires or strings in gold and silver (or copper wires and engineered strings), to make designs on textures like velvet, silk and weighty silk. Zardozi is one of the must-haves for bridal wear and couture.

While this embroidery used to be a sign of the rich but using gold coloured plastic threads has made this art form more affordable. The elegance of sarees, suits, blouses and lehengas has been upped by zardozi.

Chikankari

Chikankari, from Lucknow, started with white embroidery on white fabric but today it is available in every colour imaginable. It is the act of sewing white untwisted yarn on fine textures like muslin, cotton or voile. Now, the embroidery is being done on splendidly tinted textures or by utilising hued strings. It is an integral part of the life and culture of the city of Nawabs. From sarees to suits, from lehengas to palazzos, chikankari is suitable for everyday wear as well as special occasions.

(The author is CEO, Prastuti Designs.)