Chennai-based fashion designer Anshuma Damani keeping the traditional content alive in the indigenous handloom has come up with a selection of hand-woven products that mainly consist of three ingredients – Chanderi, Maheshwari and Tussar yarns.

Her collection ‘Kalaborate’ is a collaboration of Indian textile art that weaves ethnic threads into a handloom wear. By infusing embroideries, shibori work and other patterns, it does not take much time for the handloom fabric to turn into a rare piece.

Checked Maheshwari sari with a hand-block printed floral embellishment and a floral digital print attached blouse, Maheshwari silk sari with oganza pallu, Chanderi silk saris with unusual colour combination, handloom saris with discharge printing, hand-woven kurtas and a range of ready-to-wear ethnic blouses that can be paired with palazzos, long skirts and saris form a part of the collection. Here, the half-and-half sari takes a horizontal format instead of a vertical pattern.

“The trick lies in how well we blend these techniques keeping their limitations in mind. From granny’s prized possession to a unique finery that a youngster likes to invest in, handloom products have gone through a metamorphosis over the decades,” Damani said.