Chapters
Indian embroidery in fashion
India in Fashion - The Impact of Indian Dress and Textiles on the Fashionable Imagination
Editor: Hamish Bowles
Contributions by: Dr. Vandana Bhandari, Suzy Menkes, Dr. Sarah Fee, Priyanka R. Khanna
India in Fashion explores the beautiful and sophisticated history and aesthetics of traditional Indian fashion, dress, and textiles and their profound impact on European and American fashion from the eighteenth century to today.
Stitches of Tradition: Embroideries of South India
Textiles: Binding Threads Between Cultures, 2019
The embroidery tradition of the Indian subcontinent is one of the most richly diverse and masterly in the world though there are very few indigenous types of embroidery, which come from southern India. Kasuti embroidery, and the work of the Toda tribes from Karnataka and the Banjara style found in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The latter are said to have originated in western India and moved with the nomadic tribes from the region. Commercial gold work is done in many parts of the country and its significant presence in Deccan is linked to initially the migration of artisans from the Mughal courts in northern India and later development in the region.
The Choli and the Empowerment of Indian Women
Fashion, Agency, and Empowerment: Performing Agency, Following Script (Dress and Fashion Research), 2018
The evolution of the choli or blouse - an upper garment of India - is traced and its usage explored from early times to the present. The choli’s transformation into an essential and iconic object of fashion and its usage by women to express empowerment have been influenced by many factors. These include - but are not limited to – the effects of colonisation, the influence of missionaries, evolving sexuality, Bollywood, fashion designers along with the emerging identity of women in the country. The story of the choli is a story of how Indian women have embraced their sexuality to express themselves on their own terms.
Best Practices for Documentation of Handicrafts in the Field
Innovation in Tradition: Rural Livelihood Creation in the Indian Crafts, 2018
This publication is a study of the Indian Craft Sector. Throughout the different narratives, several themes arise: the deep commitment to artisans and crafts of the leaders running these organizations as well as the importance of community-based engagement and various non-government actors in building the Indian crafts eco-system. Above all, the voice of the artisan is present throughout the narrative.
The documentation of craft involves a multi pronged approach. Multiple issues, which link together different disciplines like sociology, psychology, religion, culture, economics among others play a role in these studies. This webinar illustrates documentation of crafts through examples of live projects undertaken .
Brilliant and Golden Embellishment: Textiles of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh
Varta, 2016
The chapter presents an overview of textile techniques produced in the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It showcases fine cottons and silks, beautiful block prints, tie dyed textiles, embroideries and pattus through visual examples.
Looming Large
Fibre 2 Fashion, 2015
The story of Indian handlooms endures from the Indus Valley [5000-3500 BCE], to India’s independence struggle in the mid-20thCentury and today stands at the crossroads of regional traditions and globalized connections. Handloom is defined as “any loom other than power loom” under the Handloom (reservation of articles for production) Act 1985. Broadly classified as pit-looms, back-strap looms, draw-looms and jacquard looms, handlooms are, in a sense, machines which rely on the body, rhythm, narrative, and skill of the weaver.
The rich textile heritage of India is illustrated through some iconic regional handloom weaves, their current status, and how the future of handloom weaving depends upon empowering traditional weavers to adapt and cater to contemporary local and global markets.
Phulkari and Bagh from Punjab
A Passionate Eye - Textiles, Paintings and Sculptures from the Bharany collection, 2014
Deep rooted traditions of embroidery have been practiced by women of Punjab and Haryana in Northern India. The darning stitch is employed to create designs on hand spun and hand woven cloth and a untwisted silk floss is used for embroidery.Floral patterns with a geometric orientation create the ornate Baghs and Phulkaris while pictorial scenes depict narratives on a Sainchi.
The Phulkari chapter presents pieces in the Bharany collection, which represent different regions where the embroidery was practiced. Bharany’s passion for collecting textiles is reflected in the uniqueness and fine quality of the work illustrated visually in this book.
The Turban: India and Pakistan
Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, edited by Joanne B. Eicher, Vol. 4, South Asia and Southeast Asia, edited by Jasleen Dhamija, 2010
From ancient to modern times the turban has constituted an important part of male dress on the Indian sub-continent. Unstitched clothing has always held a special significance and the turban is linked to concepts of respect, acceptance and honour while conforming to social and religious norms. It remains an integral component of most life-cycle ceremonies and continues to be used in Northern and Western India, especially in rural areas for its practical utility. Regardless of social and economic status the turban has the power to invest its wearer with a sense of self-esteem.
Fashion and the Garment Industry in South Asia
Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, edited by Joanne B. Eicher, Vol. 4, South Asia and Southeast Asia, edited by Jasleen Dhamija, 2010
Fashion in South Asia is shaped by varying influences from neighboring countries and from around the globe. Moreover, to define and articulate this phenomenon in a region of such cultural, social, geographic, and economic diversity is a challenge.
In India, in particular, people coexist at opposite ends of the spectrum in a society that is stratified economically and socially. In one of its reports, the World Bank remarks that India simultaneously occupies two worlds. While economic reform and social changes have affected the lives of the rich and the middle class, the rural and migrant poor appear almost completely left behind by public services, employment opportunities, and brighter prospects.
Fashion that accommodates this Indian diversity exhibits a vast variety of style variations, where the possibilities for individual expression and group identification are infinite.
Bollywood Fashion (Updated online edition)
Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, edited by Joanne B. Eicher, Vol. 4, South Asia and Southeast Asia, edited by Jasleen Dhamija, 2010
India is the largest producer of feature films in the world, and the rise of cinema in India since Independence as the primary means of entertainment and promotion of social norms has been phenomenal. Bollywood in Mumbai rules the world of the commercial blockbuster, where dreams and fantasies come alive not only in unimaginable stories but also in the locales, dialogues, and clothes that remain embedded in the memory.
Clothes play an important role in building identities on and off the screen. Styles worn by movie stars deeply influence audiences in their own choice of apparel and appearance, while ongoing fashion trends established by professional designers are in turn adopted by the stars. The influence of Bollywood is no longer confined to India but extends to an expanding diaspora all over the world.
Fashion In India
The “Fashion Reader”, 2007
The Indian fashion industry has grown rapidly since 1990 and has become a serious business today. India’s tradition of textile handicrafts; growing media influence; and the Indian government’s liberalization, privatization, and globalization program (LPG) begun in 1990 has contributed to this growth. Deeply embedded textile and dress traditions provide a basis of artisan skills and a unique garment repertoire. India’s long established film industry and star system has shaped a vital celebrity culture poised to transmit fashion information to the public through the media.
