Madhu Jain
At a Madhu Jain retrospective in October held in Mumbai, on the designer completing 25 years in the industry, she pointed out a single kalamkari sari: “It has four techniques on it: the weaving of the Kota, the chikankari, the tie and die and the applique work.” In another, she interweaves kalamkari with pita taar (thin
wire beaten with a hammer). Interweaving varying techniques has been
Jain’s signature, and her saris reflect more than one restored craft
leaning on each other for support. A Thai ikat sari, woven in India, bears Thai motifs of the mandala
surrounded by animals, taking off from Buddhist imagery. For her famous
Raja Ravi Varma-inspired hand-painted saris, Jain soaks cloth in
buffalo milk and gobar (cow dung), and once it dries, draws the
outline on it with charcoal. Then, she fills in the design with
laterite, alum, indigo flower, etc. It is then boiled and set to dry.
“If you have to revive craft, and if the sari has to survive, it has to
be old wine in new bottle” she says.
Madhu Jain saris start at Rs.25,000, at Ensemble outlets in Mumbai and New Delhi; 85 Lansdowne, Sarat Bose Road, Kolkata (www.85lansdowne.com); and Amethyst, Royapettah, Chennai (www.amethystchennai.com).
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