BRAND PROFILE
“Retaining the original essence of any given
piece also helps to build trust with the artisans.
After a year of having worked together, a
woman brought an old bagh piece for me to
see. Although her gesture was heartwarming,
it shows that it takes time for artisans to feel
comfortable with and trust the designer,”
Saumya adds.
contemporised. This meant that the elements of
the darning stitch, embroidering with silk thread
on handwoven fabrics, and the incorporation of
traditional motifs were retained.
“Retaining these elements was important as in
recent years, phulkari has started being worked
on materials such as chiffon, which tends to
slip—this affects the quality of the work. These
fabrics are not a medium the embroiderer is
typically comfortable with; using the wrong fabric
is killing the spirit of the craft. While design has to
be contemporary to sell, it should also be rooted.
If everything is changed in a product, it becomes
something else—that is not revival,” she explains.
82
I APPAREL I
December 2019
A VIBRANT REPERTOIRE
Extensively working with embroiderers, Saumya
developed a product range of saris, dupattas,
and stoles as a part of the collection Jugni,
which means a female firefly in Punjabi. The
word jugni alludes to the glittering beauty of the
firefly; in folk music, it carries the symbolism of
being an observer of life; it is also meshed with a
folktale that speaks of the bravery of two artistes
of Punjab during the British Raj; and in spiritual
poetry, it alludes to the essence of life.
Saumya found these products to be in sync
with the traditional expression of phulkari, which
was worked on lengths of fabric rather than
stitched apparel that would have required a
different kind of placement of motifs. Further,
saris, dupattas, and stoles are timeless, unlike
stitched apparel that can, many times, be driven
by trends.
When it came to women artisans, Saumya
found that quality was never an issue as they
worked hard to deliver the very best, and
took great pride in it. They only had a slight
reservation about working with motifs in soft
and pastel colours as they were accustomed to
a bright and bold colour palette (yellows, reds,
and greens). This was soon worked out as they
understood the dynamic of consumer demand.