KHAKI Talk 19: #StitchesInTime - The World of Parsi Embroidery by Ashdeen Z. Lilaowala

Parsis trading with China in the 18th and 19th centuries brought back exquisitely embroidered textiles from China. Their life-like motifs became a big hit with the Parsi ladies, and soon, these fabrics started getting custom-made for them, most famously as the Parsi gara sarees, not only in China, but in India as well. In the early twentieth century, these embroidered fabrics went out of fashion for a variety of reasons. In the late 20th century, they came to be treasured as family heirlooms, leading to a revival of interest in them. In our Online Talk, textile designer Ashdeen Lilaowala traces the roots of this unique craft tradition, explores the significance of its motifs and highlights his attempts to adapt and modernise this traditional craft into contemporary global fashion.

Ashdeen Z. Lilaowala is a textile designer, author and curator who graduated in textile design from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. An ELLE young designer award recipient, he is also a part-time lecturer at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, and a freelance fashion and travel writer. His seminal research on the traditional and vanishing craft of Zoroastrian Kusti weaving has been published as a book, Threads of Continuity – The Zoroastrian Craft of Kusti Weaving. His collections can be viewed and purchased at ashdeen.com

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