Swati Agarwalla and Sunaina Jalan have always been drawn to the weaving traditions of Varanasi and use a repertoire of floral motifs and patterns to create thematic collections for their label Swati & Sunaina Gold.
in their latest collection VanyaLaunched in late September, designers celebrated the use of wild silk (Muga, TussahMulberry, and Eli) wear ornamental banarasi sarees, inspired by the Night Garden depicted in Kangra’s miniature paintings.
From Krishna’s rich dark blue with subtle green hues to the royal color of magenta, the collection draws from the contrasts and highlights found in Kangra’s paintings.
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In an interview with Lounge, Agarwalla and Jalan discuss their new collection and the importance of Indian wild silk in Indian design history. Edited excerpt:
What is the inspiration for your collection?
Vanya A collection that is very close to our hearts. Many thoughts and possibilities have come to mind in the time of COVID-19, when we have all had time to pause, dig deep, ponder and explore.
One such idea that we began to explore more deeply was the limited use of indigenous wild silk. Muga, Tussah and eri are silk threads with different properties and properties. As I started digging deeper into these, I was in awe of their raw beauty.
As for miniatures, they are a huge visual treasure. They are canvases for studying the interpretations of early artists who had nothing but nature to draw inspiration from. Using wild silk as it is, I wanted to express the color and texture of Eri silk and the fragrant white flowers native to India in Kangra miniatures, and presented the concept of “Night”. park”.
A press note says Vanya is the first “extensive survey of modern Banaras handweaving of such silks.” Tell us about the process of creating them and the challenges you faced while creating them.
Banaras has traditionally favored the use of mulberry silk and is very open to innovation and experimentation, but working with yarns of different properties in one fabric was technically challenging. For example, thickness, softness, and natural shades are all different.we used Muga and Eli only in their natural form Tussah I use it dyed.
What draws you both to Banaras hand weaving, a part of India’s textile history that has been widely explored over the years?
Banaras has a rich history of weaving and we both grew up among women who wore the most beautiful Banarasi sarees. It was a natural progression to wear and eventually create our own. Another reason was that Banaras offered versatility and its craftsmen were not afraid to experiment and innovate. This matched our goals.
Can you talk about Indian wild silks and their importance in Indian design history?
In the history of silk around the world, the presence of mulberry was the most prevalent. It is a fiber that is naturally lustrous and can be hand-spun into fine threads. Through the Lords, Europe and Asia came closer through trade, bringing wealth to the region. In recent decades, mulberry silk has moved into relatively mainstream and large-scale planting areas.
However, little is known about wild silk from an Indian and global perspective. They are largely kept alive by communities that live in close contact with nature. They are often geographically remote from the mainstream breeding of mulberry silk, wool or cotton fibers. In the Indian subcontinent, wild silk has been widely associated from the eastern to central parts of the Indian subcontinent, from the northeast, Assam, and Bengal to Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. In Indian historical textiles, they appear in the most imaginative way in his 15th-century Vrindavanai Vastra. lamp Devotional themes from the life of Krishna and an embroidery technique called the Satgaon quilt, exported from India to Portugal in the 17th century.
In the early post-independence decades of this country, Tussah Emerging as a fashionable fabric among a niche urban clientele, wild silk fibers are perfect for hand spinning. It was also preferred by those who like to wear Khadi. It’s part of a revival of minimalism in design and textiles, with designers borrowing equally from ancient Indian roots, rural references and international modernism.
In recent years, experiments have begun to extend conventional methods. Tussah, Collar When Muga Used by small artisan studios working in the Himalayas.person inside Collar When Muga In states where tussah growing, spinning, and weaving potential remains limited, the promotion of tussah has been the focus of consistent efforts. It is not widely used, probably because it impedes
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