East Meets West

EAST MEETS WEST

The Telegraph
Saturday 21, March 1998

Seema Goswami

Madhu Jain teams up with Bangladeshi Maheen Khan to revive old embroidery techniques in her spring-summer collection.

The venue was not the banquet hall of a Delhi five-star hotel, but the sprawling Prithviraj Road residence of her brother Kamal Meattle. A stage had been erected against the side of the bungalow, so that the models appeared on the terrace, and then glided down in the most ethereal of outfits, along the steps that led to the stage, and then further down to the lawn itself, where the guests stood around looking on admiringly.

There was more: various ensembles had been placed on well-light manequins (not the human variety, we hasten to add) at strategic locations on the lawn, so that people could see the clothes up close, as well as get a feel-both literally as well as metaphorically-of them.

As for the clothes: they were esquisitely crafted using Nakshikanta embroidery, a speciality of Bangladesh, on black, silver grey, peach and Dhaka muslin. Nakshikanta embroidery is executed by using a muslin and silk thread attached by a ground stitch to give it a natural crinkle effect. The resulting effect is produced by using about about 60-70 different kinds of stitches.

Jain worked in close collabotation with Maheen Khan and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) to revive the old embroidery techniques and textiles of the region. Some of the motifs used in the Jamdani weaves have been designed on the loom by Jain herself, using traditional motifs like paisley and geometric patterns which are an intrinsic part of Muslim architecture.

But while the techniques and textiles have been sourced in a foreign-albeit neighbours - country, the sensibility that infuses the entire collection is very Indian, Churidars, salwars, tunics and lond embroidered coats comprise the bulk of the collection, and Jain has not wandered very far from the traditional silhouettes of Indian womenswear.

The hallmark of this collectionis subtlety. The colours are light and muted, the embellishments understated, and the silhouettes very elegant. So, while these outfits could make a great impact at a party, they make for ideal daywear as well.

Jain, who retails from Ogaan (Calcutta and Delhi) and Ensembles (Mumbai and Delhi), has worked successfully in the past on reviving such techniques as Suf (single-thread silk embroidery) and Banni (which is the purest form of mirror work), specialities from the Kutch region. She will, no doubt, be hoping to do a repeat with Nakshikanta and Jamdani.