WARP AND WEFT

Sun's out, and so are our favourite breezy fabrics. In a country with a long legacy of handwoven textiles, how are contemporary practitioners innovating upon techniques to breathe new life into our cottage industries? We find out

- NIDA NAEEM

When Anavila Misra first introduced the world to her linen sarees, they were quite the novelty. While

visiting the countryside during a project with the Ministry of Rural Development, she was struck by how the women would go about their day, performing both hard labour and chores in the seeming ease of the saree. It got her thinking – how do you reintroduce the saree as an everyday staple in the modern woman’s wardrobe? Her experimentations with yarn led her to linen: “It was this foreign yarn not easily available in India. And nobody had used it on handlooms at that point of time. So, working with linen to create a handloom saree was an unprecedented mix of two; the saree is intimately tied to our cultural identity but you’re using a foreign yarn.

But also, it’s being woven on Indian looms by Indian weavers. The saree has been with us for such a long time, and my linen variation looks at it afresh.” This was 14 years ago – Misra’s eponymous label has since released multiple collections featuring her bestselling linen drapes. Their success is easy to understand, given how stuffy a saree made from conventional fabrics can feel when the mercury soars.

The building blocks of any summer wardrobe worth its salt are the right fabrics. When, under the scorch of the sun and the moisture in the air, sweat seems to endlessly roll down your body, silhouette and design take a backseat to remind you of the touch of the textile that sits against your skin.