The Kalamkari
Collection
Organic. Verdant. Natural.
Creeping vines, blossoming flowers, dancing fish & exotic birds: The Kalamkari Collection draws deeply from nature for both materials & motifs. Local surroundings inspire the artists' imagination, while the pigments & mordants that create the colour on cloth are drawn entirely from the natural world.
Kalam (meaning pen) kari (meaning craftsmanship) is an art form developed in Andhra Pradesh around the 13th century. Originally used to create religious paintings on cloth to aid the acts of wandering minstrels & later used in Hindu temples, it then flourished as an art-form under the Golconda Sultanate, the Moghuls & later under the British where it became known as chintz.
We’re enormously proud to partner with Dwaraka, a not-for-profit organisation that trains & supports women artisans in Sri Kalahasthi to create the most beautiful kalamkari art work; using a kalam pen & exclusively natural mordants, dyes & resists, the artisan hand draws every line across the surface of the cloth.
A temple town deep in India's South, Sri Kalahasthi is the historical centre of the kalamkari textile tradition. Its style of kalamkari is unique, involving 17 steps from start to completion, and has received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
Our clothing is stitched by brothers Parvez & Lal in Delhi.
