London, June 1 (PTI) The Design Museum in London has unwrapped a first-of-its-kind large-scale exhibition in the UK to examine the contemporary Indian sari with a special exhibition which runs until September.
‘The Offbeat Sari’ brings together over 90 examples of trailblazing saris, nearly all on loan from designers and studios across India, never seen in Britain before.
Through the textures, weaves, colours and drapes of textiles, the exhibition hopes to offer a unique snapshot of the fashion revolution that this quintessential Indian item of clothing is experiencing globally.
“The sari is experiencing what is conceivably its most rapid reinvention in its 5,000-year history,” said Priya Khanchandani, Head of Curatorial at the Design Museum and curator of the exhibition.
“It makes the sari movement one of today’s most important global fashion stories, yet little is known of its true nature beyond South Asia. Women in cities who previously associated the sari with dressing up are transforming it into fresh, radical, everyday clothing that empowers them to express who they are, while designers are experimenting with its materiality by drawing on unbounded creativity,” she said.
The curator believes the sari is of personal and cultural significance and is also a rich, dynamic canvas for innovation that encapsulates the vitality and eclecticism of Indian culture.
“With a population of 1.4 billion people, India’s significance within contemporary culture is vast, and the sari foregrounds the country’s undeniable imagination and verve, while asserting the relevance of Indian design on a global stage,” she added.
On display at the exhibition, which opened recently, are a selection of saris by exciting designers of varied scale, from growing global brands to emerging studios. These include the delicate work of designers such as Abraham & Thakore, Raw Mango, Akaaro and NorBlackNorWhite, who have been at the cutting-edge of the sari’s dynamic shift and renewed relevance.
One of the highlights is the first-ever sari worn at the famed Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Designed by Sabyasachi and styled with a gold Schiaparelli bodice, the ensemble was worn by businesswoman and socialite Natasha Poonawalla and made headlines around the world last year for its dramatic mix of Indian and Western couture.
Also on display are saris that experiment with materials and form by designers like Amit Aggarwal, HUEMN, Diksha Khanna and Bodice.
Examples of couture saris such as Tarun Tahiliani’s foil jersey sari for Lady Gaga from 2010 and Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla’s ruffled sari worn by Bollywood star Deepika Padukone at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022 will joins works by Anamika Khanna to exemplify the sari’s full potential.
Alongside them will be a range of styles seen on the streets of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and beyond, showing how young women in cities are embracing the sari in their own unique ways.
“It’s in the Design Museum’s mission to examine the world as it is today across geographies. The Offbeat Sari will highlight design’s role in a huge fashion story that’s little-known outside India, providing a site for us to reflect, with our partners and lenders in India, and the South Asian diaspora here, on the impact of India’s fashion creativity,” said Tim Marlow, the Design Museum’s CEO and Director.
“Indian textiles have long been explored ethnographically in international museums and we are excited to be presenting cutting-edge Indian fashion to UK audiences in London this summer,” he said.
The organisers point out that conventionally a single piece of unstitched fabric, the sari is inherently fluid.
Adapted in drape and form over millennia, it reflects identity, social class, taste and function across time and geography, and remains an enduring part of life in India today.
“Wearers are embodying the sari as a vessel for dynamism rather than pageantry. Individuals are wearing the sari as an expression of resistance to social norms, and activists are embodying it as an object of protest. Young people in cities – who previously associated the sari with dressing up – can now be found wearing saris and sneakers on their commutes to work,” the Design Museum notes.
The exhibition unfolds in three main sections: Transformations which highlight the experiments with the clothing, Identity and Resistance which examines the role of the wearer, and New Materialities which focuses on the sari as a textile. PTI AK NSA NSA NSA
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.