Project Brief :
To come up with two innovative design collections that are different from the traditional Banarasi saris. Each collection comprising of at least 5 - 6 distinct designs and 10 -12 pieces, including the colour ways.
Collection 2 :
The second collection is to be a high end occasion wear for women looking for statement pieces with a different design aesthetic. Petite and embellished, a fresh take on florals, which is different from the conventional Banarasi florals.
Design Inspiration for collection 2 : Chinese Scroll Paintings
Left: Hanging-scroll, Tao Yuanming enjoying Chrysanthemums, Du Jin(1465-1509), Chinese
Right top: A close up of the painting, Image Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Right bottom: Hand-scroll, Treaty of Bianqiao, Li-Gonglin, (1049-1106), Image Source: Christie's
Left : Magpie in a Flowering Pear Tree, hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper
Right : (Top) Crane in a Bamboo Grove, hanging scroll, ink and colour on silk, (Bottom) No. 33 One Hundred Flowers, Blue Poppy (close-up detail), ink and colour on silk
Left : Birds on a Flowering Branch, 19th century, Hanging-scroll, ink and colour on silk
Middle : Blossoming Peony, 12th century, album-leaf painting, ink and colour on silk
Right : Birds and Flowers, Unknown artist, 18th century, Album, ink and colour on silk
Colour palette for this collection
Based on the inspiration and the colours which are popular amongst customers, we decided on the above colour palette for this collection. The smaller swatches on extreme right are for zari colour tones used in this collection. The colours were picked from Mannan shade card, which is a local silk shade card widely used in Banaras. The fabric decided for this collection was katan silk (plain-woven mulberry silk).
Image reference : Flowers and Birds, Shen Quan, 1750, Hanging-scroll, ink and colour on silk
Right : Initial surface exploration
Making further changes to the previous iteration to achieve a more balanced surface
Border design which will be translated in solid gold zari, 3 inches wide
Final design with colour distribution, one single repeat unit is 8" high and 11" wide
The technique chosen for execution of this design was phekwa in katan silk fabric and the design was further refined accordingly to suit the loom specifications.
Layout of the sari
Given below are the images of the final sari.
Colour - ways
Following the above mentioned design process, I created more designs, out of which six more were finalised and produced; images of which are given below.
Peonies & butterflies pattern woven in phekwa technique of Banarasi ; katan (plain woven mulberry silk) silk, gold zari and silk extra weft
Colour - ways
Delicate pattern of roses and crabapple flowers woven using kadhwa technique ; katan (plain woven mulberry silk) silk fabric with gold zari and silk
extra weft
Colour - way
Floral border with butterfly motifs woven using kadhwa technique ; katan (mulberry silk in plain weave) silk, gold zari and silk extra weft
Colour - ways
Osmanthus and cherry blossoms, with sparrows flying, woven using kadhwa technique ; katan (plain woven mulberry silk) silk, gold zari and silk extra weft
Sparrow motif woven in kadhwa technique ; katan (mulberry silk in palin weave) silk with gold zari and silk extra weft
Colour - way
Chrysanthemum motifs woven using kadhwa technique ; katan (plain woven mulberry silk) silk with gold zari and silk in extra weft
Colour - ways
Project Guide : Shafiq Afzal
Project Mentor : Ujjwal Khanna
Images credits : Tilfi Banaras
Stitched garments : Siddharth Pandey
Big thanks to all the weavers, graph-makers and artisans for their inputs and translating the designs beautifully on to fabric.
All the designs, photographs and other contents of this project are property of Tilfi Banaras, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and the publisher. Use of any content for any purpose, without permission of the owners is prohibited.
