Woven splendour for Lakme Fashion Week

Gaurang Shah’s Chaand for Lakme Fashion Week Winter 2021 is a fusion of weaving techniques

At textile designer Gaurang Shah’s signature store in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, nearly 40 saris were displayed on wooden frames in three spacious rooms. The exhibition-like display makes it easier to observe the fusion of weaving techniques. Ahead of showcasing his new collection, Chaand, at Lakme Fashion Week Winter 2021 on October 8 in Mumbai, Gaurang held a preview for his Hyderabad clientele last weekend. “Not many are keen to travel due to the pandemic, but they wanted to see the collection. So we decided to have a full-fledged preview,” says Gaurang, adding that 10 saris have already been booked by buyers.

These 40 saris were conceptualised three years ago and craft clusters that liaise with Gaurang began working in advance, thus minimising the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on this collection.

The saris of Chaand are diverse in their weaves — woven in Benaras, Kota, Srikakulam, Uppada, Venkatagiri, Kashmir and Paithan, they were later embroidered. In some cases, a single sari has been worked upon by two or three clusters. Imagine one section of the sari highlighting jamdani on khadi from Srikakulam and another section being Paithani on organza. The motifs range from traditional birds and animals to the tree of life and vintage florals.