the asian fashion journal

1st Dec 2012

Well if there’s another reason to love Ms.Tewari this is it. The Project Renaissance initiative led by Bandana for Vogue India involved selecting the country’s finest handcrafted textiles and inviting leading international designers to- in her words ‘to mould them into something inspiring, something momentous. What you see is a sublime tribute to the historical, social and mythical magic of the Indian warp and weft.’

The results as you can see below are just beautiful and have importantly benefited both parties. Just as Hermes launched its limited edition saris and Gucci’s ‘Made for India’ collection, Project Renaissance has given these international brands an opportunity to engage with the Indian consumer in a more personal manner as well as enabled the welcome promotion of traditional Indian fabrics.

Burberry for Maheshwari silk

“I wanted to take our iconic trench coat and play with its unique identity. Like the trench, the Maheshwari fabric has an incredibly rich history and heritage, which I find truly inspiring.”

—Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer

Maheshwari silks are known for their distinctive geometric motifs, stripes and checks which are derived from the beautiful carvings from the Maheshwar Fort. I found these images on the Cluster Shop India which shows images of weaves and where their patterns originate from.

Alberta Ferretti for Kanchipuram silk

“I reinterpreted this beautiful fabric to realise something different from the traditional sari— I wanted to show [its] versatility, richness and allure.”

—Alberta Ferretti

Kanchipuram in the Southern state of Tamil Nadu is commonly known as the Silk city. The famed silk sarees are known for their heavy texture and rich lustre which comes from its high denier threads and pure zari in a double warp and weft weave. Designs include suns, moons, chariots, peacock, lions, mangoes and coins. Below are some traditional examples.

Prabal Gurung for Benarasi Brocade

“The design and draping process was incredibly romantic and poetic- it stirred up emotions and nostalgia of my time spent (in India) “

–Prabal Gurung

Benares brocade from the Northern state of Uttar Pradesh is made of finely woven silk with intricate designs including paisleys, flowers and fauna motifs. Anita Dongre latest collection had some beautiful examples

DKNY for Bishnupur Baluchari silk

“The graphic red is so DKNY—vibrant, energised, colourful. It’s exciting to take something traditional and do something completely unexpected with it.”—

-Donna Karan, chief creative director

Bishnupur Baluchari silks are known for their detailed depictions of mythological and folk stories inspired by the temples of Bishnupur & Bankur of West Bengal. DKNY’s take like Burberry’s trench coat is a complete reinvention of a classic and are my fav’s from the project.

Here’s the fab video that accompanies project and shows all twenty of the designs.