Fashion as an industry today is synonymous with the need to know our cloth's origin and who made it. At Upasana, since our conception, we have been driven by the need to bring glory to India through our textiles. Here are more details about the same:
DESI COTTON
‘Desi Cotton’ is Indigenous cotton. 97% of India’s desi cotton today has been reduced to an alarming 3%. Due to the vast dependence on Genetically Modified cotton, the country has forgotten its own indegenious seeds. This along with other negative ecological impacts accounts for the farmers suicide in India. Desi Cotton is our heritage. Upasana Design Studio had been part of the cotton seed protection movement in India. The collapse of our local seed has been a serious threat to our society. We proudly bring you a collection which one can truly call ‘being Indian‘ .
KHADI
Khadi is a term used for ‘Hand-spun’ and ‘Handwoven Textile’ in India. Hand spinning and hand weaving is a technique that has been around in India for thousands of years. India continues to lead Khadi as a sustainable future textile. Today Khadi is branded by the government of India to promote hand spun and woven textiles. Upasana works closely with Khadi institution in South and North India. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi : ‘The spinning wheel represents to me the hope of the masses. The masses lost their freedom, such as it was, with the loss of the Charkha. The Charkha supplemented the agriculture of the villagers and gave it dignity'.
MANGALGIRI COTTON
Pride of Andhra Pradesh,Mangalgiri handloom is a very popular textile handwoven in Mangalgiri area. Mangalgiri handloom gained its name and pride from Mangalgiri town in Andhra Pradesh. It paved its way onto the textile world map due to unique vibrant colour, crispness of weave, durability of the cotton and wearability.
KALAMKARI
Kalamkari, which means ‘pen-worked’, is an exquisite multi step process for creating designs on textile as part of the painting process. Today Kalamkari process have been taken over by hand block prints. Finer details are being touched by special pens that are carrying natural dyes to do the lining and filling work. Colours such as red, black, brown, and violet are outlined with a mordant and then placed in a bath of alizarin. In this process, The cloth undergoes a stiffening process by being steeped in buffalo milk with astringents, which is then sun dried. After which it gets covered in wax, leaving out the parts to be dyed in blue and then placed in an indigo bath. The wax is then scraped off and the areas to be yellow or pale green are hand painted.
IKAT
Ikat is an exquisite complex dyeing technique where patterns are created on textiles during pre weaving process. Warp threads are bound and resist-dyed; both sides of the cloth have the same color intensity. When the weft threads are woven onto the loom, they combine with the warp to reveal a pattern of extraordinary density and complexity, giving you a unique double ikat technique. Double ikats are cloths in which both warp and weft threads have been bound and resist-dyed. When the weft threads are woven onto the loom, they combine with the warp to reveal a pattern of extraordinary density and complexity.
Handblock print
Hand Block printing is part of an ancient technique in India that has helped in making India one of the largest textile markets internationally. Wooden blocks are used to imprint hand carved designs onto fabric and paper. Resist printing and discharge printing are the most commonly used print techniques. In hand block print, colours used for printing are usually derived from plants and minerals native to the subcontinent. Common colors used in hand block print is red, black, blue, violet, green, and yellow are obtained from plants and minerals native to India
Jamdani
Jamdani is a labour intensive form of handloom weaving. It is an additional extra weft in weaving, which in process crates a motif. Jamdani motifs are called Buta. This technique originated from Bengal but has been practiced all across India as an art form with different fibers. Jamdani are usually woven into fine Cotton, Khadi and Silk. Bengal is especially known for its beautiful buta work in fine khadi. Varanasi’s weave Buta in silk with Zari on a royal textile called ‘Kadua’. This skilled technique cannot be replicated by the power-loom and has played a vast role in uplifting handloom legacy.
