When Ahalya S began curating Kanjivaram saris for her store, Kanakavalli, she was clear that her aesthetic would not stray far from their signature look.

So how does she feed her creativity? “We found that colour is a great way to experiment while sticking to classic formats. Everyone loves the gold sari and how it looks, so we’ve gone with shades of gold,” she says, adding, “Molten is an apt name, since the drapes look liquid and shimmery.”

The updated collection of nearly 40 saris — some of which are already sold out on the website — features everything from yellow, rose, white and azure gold, to copper and bronze tones as the base. These are paired with pinks, blues, greens, and other shades of gold.

Ahalya S   | Photo Credit: Arjun Dogra

“The traditional dual tone Kanjivaram has a very festive look. These saris, however, do a beautiful job as evening wear, especially when paired with interesting blouses. The point was to simply enjoy wearing your Kanjivaram,” says Ahalya. That’s one way to make heads turn at the next cocktail party you go to!

Working with a variety of weavers in Kanchipuram, the challenge with this line was to get the balance right: the colours should not overpower the gold tone.

All the saris have fine zari, going up to 90% pure silver and gold. Ahalya adds that while the motifs are not experimental, they have come out with a wide price range, that starts at ₹23,000 and goes up to ₹1.61 lakh.

While the assumption is that each sari at Kanakavalli is “one of a kind”, Ahalya explains why that can’t be true, saying, “With weaving, it is not possible to have so much downtime for the loom.

When the loom is not working, the weaver isn’t earning. It is important to be mindful of how often you can change a design, so as to keep a check on the price.

Kanakavalli’s ‘Molten’ sari  

What we do is, within the same design, we experiment a lot by changing small aspects of the pattern or colour. So what comes out looks unique every time.”

Molten is available online now, and at Kanakavalli at Kingsley, Spurtank Road, Chetpet, from March 15 to 17. From 10am to 8pm. Prices range from ₹23,000 to ₹1.61 lakh. 9566192266