Chennai | Anaka Narayanan’s capsule collection has a weaving story to tell

Anaka Narayanan’s capsule collection, The Maheshwar Edit, is her first foray into weaving fabrics, and plays with bold stripes, textures and colours in breathable fabrics

Anaka Narayanan’s capsule collection, The Maheshwar Edit, has a story to tell. 

In 2022, Anaka, the founder of Brass Tacks headed to Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh for an apprenticeship with weaver Nisha Verma. “I was keen on learning how to weave and knew that to commit the process to muscle memory, I would have to do this for a longer period of time,” she says.I went in with an open mind and told myself that if I wanted to delve deeper into production and design, they cannot be treated as two distinct fields,” she says.

Anaka’s first foray into textile weaving has now taken shape as this capsule collection, The Maheshwar Edit, which is now on display and for sale at Silkworm Boutique in Chennai. The collection has shirts and tops in bold stripes for men and women made using non-mercerized cotton yarn, to ensure the fabrics are soft and breathable. 

As a part of this display, near the rack with Anaka’s collection is also her story on display, through photos which chronicle her time at Maheshwar and experiments with the warp and weft. “A large part of why I like handlooms is that the fabric does not completely fall flat. The texture gives it character and there is a certain unevenness that comes from the charm of being handmade,” she says, of the fabric used. While she made multiple trips to Maheshwar and spent considerable time to get this fabric right, Anaka says that she still feels like she has barely scratched the surface with this collection. 

Anaka began Brass Tacks originally as a clothing label in 2007. At the time of closing down the label in 2019, she had a workshop in Chennai and two retail outlets in Chennai and Bengaluru. After a hiatus of a few years, the label came back, but with a different focus. 

“When I ran the label, I focussed a lot on the garment construction aspect of it. For this collection however, the silhouettes are really simple because I want the focus to be on the textile. The advantage of now not running a full-time business is that I have the opportunity to spend much more time with artisans. My conversations with them have forced me to challenge my own prejudices and way of thinking, and the importance of facilitating a culture of innovation,” she says. 

The Maheshwar Edit is available for sale at G-7, Gems Court, 14, Khader Nawaz Khan Rd, Nungambakkam until February 2. Contact  9841018191. Visit brasstacks.co.in