Designers, brands are fixated on Chikankari, the hottest trend this summer

Popular Instagram artist Marie Andrew recently posted her “April Heart” online — a heart made up of typical summer things — and at the core of it was the intense emotional need for a haircut. If you’re living in India, you can probably add mangoes, a glass of Rooh Afza and chikankari apparel to the list. And you won’t be alone. Couture labels, high-street brands and even fast-fashion knock-offs seem to be echoing this seasonal sentiment.

A chikankari-inspired Banarasi brocade sari; Price Rs 70,375; Available at Ekaya Banaras stores; www.ekaya.in

Chikankari is widely believed to have been introduced by Persian craftspeople who came to India looking for patronage and found it in Mughal empress Noor Jahan’s court. But there is no definitive history of how this “shadow” embroidery technique was invented before it became the hallmark of the Awadh region in present-day Uttar Pradesh. But over roughly two centuries, artisans translated Mughal architectural motifs onto fine muslin cloth through different chikankari stitches and patterns. The intricate jaalis in stone were recreated through the complex stitch on cloth, often playing with the translucence of cotton and more solid thread work.

A cotton-silk chanderi sari with chikankari jaali embroidery; Price Rs 17,990; Available at Fabindia stores across India

Chikankari is as “Lukhnavi” as Tunday Kebabi. And now some designers are reinventing motifs and experimenting with the base fabric. For instance, Raw Mango’s Sanjay Garg has created chikankari angels in flight on apparel in colours that are commonly seen in Meghalaya. Titled “Cloud People”, this collection not only modifies classic Awadhi designs but also uses fabric like brocade and weaves like zardozi to reimagine this embroidery tradition. Similarly, Ekaya Banaras’s “Mahfooz” collection uses the loose chikankari technique on a traditional Banarasi brocade sari to create the trademark “shadow” effect.

Black chanderi kurta with deep red chikankari; Price Rs 4,193; Available at www.jaypore.com

Meanwhile, designers like Anjul Bhandari are tirelessly trying to keep alive the dying traditional techniques. For instance, there exist nearly 40 kinds of stitches, but only about eight are used in contemporary chikankari apparel. A sari designed by Bhandari uses nearly 18 “taankas” (stitches) in one sari, which can take as long as two years to create. She also doesn’t go beyond “do taar” (two threads), thus keeping the reverse of the chikan apparel near-spotless.

Anjul Bhandari’s traditional ek taar-do taar couture lehenga ; Price On request (lehengas are upwards of Rs 1 lakh); Available at Ensemble, Mumbai; Ogaan, Delhi