Sari: Ek modelling katha
Saraswathi posed, Paarvati clicked. This unique modelling tale has a mother-in-law as model to her designer daughter-in-law.
It all happened in a day’s time. While most Malayalis were shopping to make their Onam special, a mother-in-law, daughter-in-law duo from Kerala have been busy posing and clicking photos at their Hyderabad home. On Thiruvonam, when others spread out a sumptuous Sadya, they put up some uber cool designs on social media. Paarvati Kiriyath Bharath and Saraswathi Gopalakrishnan have been weaving a unique tale in the fashion world. And see what they have done. The mommie-in-law is a model to her son’s wife! The rare formula worked wonders with the duo’s Onam collection under the label Braid De. And voila! the saris were sold off like hot cakes.
Like every designer, finding a celebrity model came to Paarvati’s mind first and that got pushed back with the second thought. Why should she hunt elsewhere when the gorgeous mom-in-law is there right in front of her eyes? Things happened in quick succession. The saris arrived, the model was ready and the photographer? Paarvati, a filmmaker’s (Balu Kiriyath) daughter, hired a camera and did it herself. Saraswathi was new to this job, though they both walked the ramp to present Braid De at a fashion show in Kochi in 2016. Paarvathi was there to boost her confidence.
“Amma does whatever I ask her to. Usually, I take her photos on phone. And I wondered how shooting with a camera would be like. I found a professional camera. Once I wanted to be a director. All those dreams came in handy this time and there we were,” says Paarvati. The expensive and time-consuming pen Kalamkari works were done at the pace of one sari per month. “We could come out with only three saris as just one piece alone took about a month’s time. They are such intricate and hand-woven designs, unlike the printed versions. Red, a natural colour, is spread on the sari. We call it ‘our designs.’ Amma and I sit together during the entire process,” explains Paarvati. Since there was an overdose of Kerala sari designs with elephant, Braid De’s choice was a horse. “For Onam, everybody would be curious to know what we do. And we did it different,” she says. To add oomph, the traditional wear was paired with raindrops on a denim blouse piece.