Not without the six yard

Bappaditya and Rumi Biswas, of the designer label bailou, in town for their exhibition today, have decided to keep the faith in the ageless saree forever and contemporarise it with new age ideas

Not without the six yard

Bappaditya and Rumi Biswas, of the designer label bailou, in town for their exhibition today, have decided to keep the faith in the ageless saree forever and contemporarise it with new age ideas

Kolkata-based designer duo Bappaditya and Rumi Biswas have taken a pledge of sorts to keep the saree alive and along with it the ancient skills of weaving of rural artisans in Bengal. The designers, who are exhibiting their collection of sarees, stoles, dupattas and scarves in the city, say, "We are trying to revive a lot of designs, patterns and techniques and put together a collection that's modern in terms of colours and textures, but the layout has been taken from the old styles."

That explains the sobriquet of the collection, From Grandam's Closet. When Bappadityau00a0 returned to Bengal from Philadelphia, where he was specialising in printing, he saw the vast opportunity lying with weavers that was untapped as no one was working with them. So the National Institute of Fashion Design, Calcutta graduate got onboard weavers from Nadia, Hoogli, Bishnupur and Shantipur to create his label Bailou. The name for the eight-year-old label doesn't really mean anything. It's just an expression, much like their creations.

In Bangalore for the fifth time this weekend, Bappaditya says they have always got great response from the city as everything they do is hand woven.u00a0 They mix different yarns for one saree making use of the basic skills of the weavers. "I don't teach them new skills. They mix colour by the yarn to the thread. The simple traditional Bengali borders on dhaniakhali and shantipuri sarees form part of our collection alongside Resham, Matka silks and linen sarees," he reveals.

They constantly reinvent the saree. For instance, the traditional Jamdaani has been modified to a different level by attaching sheer pallus and creating a new texture. The reverse technique has also been used. They do sheer sarees with Jamdani pallus playingu00a0 with the opacity of the fabric. Brighter hues like beige, fuchsia, red, orange, green, brown and turquoise, that suit the Indian complexion have been used for the sarees.
They call themselves the link between the market and the craftsmen. "The designers have fashion weeks, the craftsmen have crafts council. But people like us don't really have a platform. It took us eight years before we could open a retail outlet in Calcutta," rues Bappaditya.

Yet despite these obstacles, their brand has found place in the wardrobes of politicians and filmstars. Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi, Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Kirror Kher, MoonMoon Sen, Aparna Sen and Konkona Sen Sharma patronise their sarees. Bengali films like Aparna Sen's Iti Mrinalini and Rituparno Ghosh's Noukadubi(Kashmakash in Hindi) have also used their sarees.

The path ahead is working with Ikkat and Kalamkari weavers in Andhra Pradesh and shows in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Dubai next year. Amidst all that, the social entrepreuners will continue to be crusaders for the saree. "Agreed that they don't merge with the modern lifestyle as you can't wear a traditional kanjeevaram or tangail to work every day, but how can a nation forget its beautiful drape? We try to bridge the gap between modern lifestyle and craftsmen by refusing to treat craft as a museum piece which will only lead to its death. The power of the saree can't be compared to anything else. They make you feel the most empowered in boardroom meetings," avers Bappaditya.

The duo also has a clothing line that includes comfortable kurtas, skirts and jackets for women and ethnic kurtas for men, but Bangalore will miss that.

Where Ambara,Ulsoor 119, Annaswamy Mudaliar Road, Ulsoor and Basava Ambara 93, Kanakapura Road, Basavanagudi
On from August 18 to 20 at Ulsoor and from August 25 to 27 at Basavanagudi, 10.30 am to 7 pm
Call 25572829/26561940
For Rs 700 to 1,600