FT NEWS

By now we are all familiar with the iconic white and gold saree of Kerala. Some call it the Kerala sari or even Onam sari – as it’s mainly worn on this festival – but increasingly, the Kerala Kasavu is becoming easily recognisable beyond God’s Own Country. It’s a testimony to the growing popularity of this iconic motif that uses off-white base with zari in various forms, thickness, and motifs. A lot of it is thanks to the expatriate Malayali community and the other credit could be claimed by India’s first styled movie ‘Aisha’ where lead Sonam Kapoor and her gang of giggly girls danced to a typical Punjabi song wearing the Kasavu. That was 11 years ago. Is the Kerala Kasavu – iconic as it may be – needs to be reimagined to make it truly contemporary?

Yes, say designers and entrepreneurs from Kerala who are trying to take the Kasavu beyond just a festival. Ramesh Menon of Save The Loom that works with weavers in Kerala and designers all over India is a man on a mission to bring about change. His idea is to retain the traditional forms but make clothing that has a larger appeal and market, besides just the Malayalis in Kerala.

Save The Loom’s inhouse design lab has worked with artisans and partners across Kerala – Balarampuram, Chendamangala, Kuthampully and Palakkad .The singular idea is to bring in design elements that makes the textile far luxurious by multiple traditional processes – from pre-loom to post loom, and reduce the kasavu (zari) to minimum, yet prominent enough to give a signature.

Small changes, big difference

The conventional market commercially pushed from Kuthumpally still goes with screen-printed motifs and designs. And the classics are still consumed in its traditional forms and simplicity. But there is a new trend emerging, and organisations like Menon’s, designers like Bindu Nair of Ela and Sreejith Jeevan’s of Rouka are making the Kerala Kasavu more versatile. Now Kasavu sales are mostly year around which is great with many non-Mallus discovering the sari.

Today the market is far wider than just Malayalis. There are brands and designers outside Kerala bringing out collections that plays on the idea of off-white and Zari. Some even dedicated their lines for Onam like Anavila Misra last year. The cotton woven in Kerala is in very fine count and has huge potential to command a global market.

Legacy of Kasavu

For a lay consumer, it’s not an easy task to make our handloom vs power loom. There are very small differences that are evident only to an expert eye. Many traditionalists believe that we must not contemporarise it but I feel its important to have both worlds. It helps the weavers to have as many people wear their craft and for that design is essential.