Drapes for modern-day brides

CHENNAI: From Benarasi to Kerala kasavu saris, city-based designer Shimai Jayachandra has given a contemporary twist to the traditional drapes with her designs, embroideries, and prints. She displays her collection under the year-old label Urvii Mantreh. Urvii means earth in Sanskrit and Mantreh is natural in Persian. True to its name, they use only natural fabrics of cotton, silk, and linen. "I would love to do more of just bridal. I think the exquisite and age-old traditional weaves are coming back in trend. It's a vicious cycle after all," says Shimai who has been in the fashion industry for 14 years. A NIFT graduate, she is also passionate about travelling and meeting different artisan clusters across India.

As you walk around the exhibition at The Folly, Amethyst, you see a mixed palette. There are around 160 saris. While you find pastel shades on one end, there are powdered blues, blings and mundu saris. "I made sure that the fabrics are light and breezy for the bride to move around freely. You will see all kinds of colour play in my saris. So this is typically for a modern day bride," she explains.

Among the highlights are the Kotapad saris from Odisha, weaves from Aarni, Jamdhani from Varnasi and 200-year-old weaves from Balaramapuram in Kerala. Shimai draws inspiration from nature. Most of her motifs include species of birds like parrots and kingfisher. There are also floral prints and designs from her recent travel to China. "Kerala is my native place. I've taken the plain kasavu sari, given it embroidery and parrot motifs. Some saris have screen printing techniques , however these says digital prints tend to be more common," she says. There are also patchwork of Ajrakh and Bandhani. She shares that Chanderi from Madhya Pradesh is her next target.

The collections also include potli bags and pouches with zardosi work. There are also rich embroidered shawls and dupattas that can be worn with plain tunics. Shimai wants to bring in more traditional weaves and artisan clusters to the forefront and expose their talents. She will be opening her boutique under the same label Urvii Mantreh in the city by the end of this month.

Saris are priced from `12,000-`60,000. The exhibition is on at The Folly, Amethyst from till today.