Six Yards and Counting saris

Cotton weaves and a big bindi for the voluntary session with young adults. Chiffons and pearls for the grand Sunday brunch. Kanjeevarams, of course, for the multiple-day wedding celebration.

But what do you wear when you just want to turn heads? When you don’t want to look like Brinda Karat or Gayatri Devi — or even your mum? When you want to go the whole six yards and then some?

Just for those special occasions, Seema and Archana, the joint brains behind the Iksenya label, have teamed up with textile designer Pragatti to create 100 saris that are like no other you have seen.

Their label ‘Six Yards and Counting’ believes in melding the old and the new, not yanking them together. Instead of being added on as embellishments, their saris have gota, zardozi and even ancient brocades woven into the fabric. Not bandhani, they use shibori, the Japanese tie-and-dye technique; not peacock prints, they incorporate actual ostrich feathers. The base fabric itself ranges from handloom crepes and chiffons to silks, organzas and angora wool and extends to Lycra and Tencel.

Drape one of these, and you’ll have others wondering how they can look like you. And unless they have one of the 99 other saris from the trio, you know they can’t.

Six Yards and Counting. Exhibition at Ffolio,1, Embassy Chambers, 5, Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore on October 26, 27 and 28. Prices begin at Rs 12,000.