CHIKANKARI: A REVIVAL STORY
Designers and celebrity brides are favouring the timeless embroidery style, bringing it back to its glory
Among a cluster of embroidery techniques in India, chikankari has symbolised timeless elegance. Chikankari is an old technique that comes from Lucknow. Many households in the city are engaged in the craft, trying to keep it relevant even today. The craft has also become the favourite of designers who are using it to create a variety of garments.
“One of the most prominent features of chikankari work is the stitches. Each and every stitch is done to perfection and the neatness in the work is hard to find elsewhere. The delicate and artfully done hand embroidery gives the garment a look of richness and skillfulness, which is exactly what you pay for,” explains designer Aakriti Grover.
Legend has it that Emperor Jehangir’s wife, Nur Jehan, talented in embroidery, brought it to India from Persia. He too is said to have loved it and established several workshops to perfect the art. It became the chosen apparel of the nawabs. But the craft dwindled post-Independence and by the 1980s, chikan became casual wear and its expression, crude.
“Chikankari has always been big because it is one embroidery that becomes like a textile. Indians love fully embroidered clothing and this doesn’t have weight and all the subtlety of the stitches can be enhanced,” says designer Tarun Tahiliani.
For designer duo Abu JaniSandeep Khosla, it wasn’t just about reviving the craft, but taking it beyond. “When we decided to resurrect chikankari, it was our mission to take this Mughal craft to the catwalk and make it the standard of couture. It took us three years of research and training of artisans, printers to embroiderers to achieve the finesse we want,” they add.
It became more popular as Bollywood stars opted for chikankari outfits for their wedding functions. “With fashion’s recent shift back to heritage crafts, it’s nice that chikankari is being seen more, especially on celebrities. This of course does influence customer purchase decisions. The trending colours brides are going for are muted and pastel shades like white, beige pastel pink, baby blue,” says Devangi Nishar Parekh, creative director with a fashion firm.
“While white does rule the roost, don’t be surprised to see colourful and silk threads too tracing the motifs, making each garment more versatile,” says Sukriti Grover. “Colours we are playing with are champagne and teal green,” says designer duo Monika and Nidhi. Tahiliani also recommends pale colours. “Chikankari works best with pale colours. One can enhance chikankari by the use of separate embroidered borders, Swarovski crystals, originally a lot mukaish which now people favour less because there are new materials,” adds
Tahiliani.