Mother’s Day: Meet the mother-daughter duo reviving Banarasi handloom legacy in Mumbai

With Mother's Day around the corner, we sat down with Sagrika and Gaurika Rai, the dynamic mother-daughter duo steering Banarasi textile heritage in Mumbai. Under the peaking sun at Marine Lines, their workstation is brimming with fabrics for bridal lehengas, odhnis, dupattas and exquisite couture waiting to undergo tailored fittings.

Owning two decades of expertise in hand-woven silk, the store Warp 'n Weft was once just a fantasy dreamt by a conceiving mother. Sagrika (the mother) takes us back to 1997 when echoes of Kashi began to stir within her. Back then, at the age of 26, her womb had come to fruition when she got hooked on the idea of slow luxury wrapped in Indian handloom.

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"While enjoying the bliss of motherhood," she reminisces, "what haunted me often were the refined textiles of Banaras." Tracing these visceral images, she attributes them to the company of karigars whom young Sagrika spent her formative years with. As time unfolded, she bore witness to their craftsmanship on the soft weaves of katan, mulberry, muslin and other dainty fabrics.

- Giving birth to ideas -

Forward to the year 1997 when her daughter Gaurika was born, Sagrika reveled in the quiet it brought. "The solace between me and my daughter prompted me to kind of figure out what I want to do in life," she tells this writer.

"I would pack Gaurika in her little seat and drive around the town to go store-hopping in search of handcrafted fabrics." As a young woman living in Bombay in the late nineties, Sagrika learned that there was a "complete vacuum of good textiles" in the Maximum City. It was upon gauging the fabric gap, that this Banaras-born couturier found her calling.

‘Marrying the handloom artistry from Banaras with unabashed glamour became our motto,' recounts Sagrika, who recently draped Alia Bhatt, Chitrangada Singh, Raveena Tandon and other big screen divas in the quintessential silk sarees.

Bollywood actresses Hema Malini and Soha Ali Khan dressed in custom Warp 'n Weft ensembles. Pics/Warp 'n Weft

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The store's long-standing relationship with indigenous artisans remains unchallenged. Since its inception till today, the brand has maintained its collaboration with the same family of craftsmen that it began working with. Recently, they have also been conferred a Geographical Indications (GI) tag by the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Artisans in Banaras weaving yarn on looms to craft exquisite fabrics. Pics/Warp 'n Weft

- Working as a mother-daughter duo -

Gaurika's take

Gaurika jumps in to shed light on the mother-daughter jugalbandi. "I joined my mother last year and just to give a bit of a background, I'm a business student so I don't come from the world of textiles."

With no formal education in fashion or design, the 27-year-old is not at a disadvantage. Having grown up in the world of textiles, weaves and yarn continue to run in her blood. Yet, this Gen Z takes the legacy further with her prowess in business strategy and marketing communications to expand the atelier's philosophy.

Reflecting on how it is to collaborate with her mom daily, she says: "Creatively, my mother's guidance remains paramount, and I continue to learn from her expertise. However, in other facets of the business, particularly those aligned with my education and work experience, the transition feels more seamless."

At Warp ‘n Weft, their signature weaves include Shikargahs, Rangkats, Guldavaris, Gyasar, Khinkhwabs, Jamdanis, and Ektaras among others which make it a very colourful place to work at, admits Gaurika. "It's a smooth amalgamation of the influence from my upbringing and the application of my academic knowledge. This blend allows me to access not only my IQ but also my creative and emotional intelligence."

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Sagrika's take

"Gaurika joining me has been the biggest reward in my career. Previously, while I worked for the artisans and weavers, there was a sense of solitude. However, with Gaurika by my side, there's now a newfound energy and camaraderie, knowing that I'm not alone in this journey," confesses Sagrika.

She continues by saying that now it feels like they're two minds, and four hands, and their synergy brings an abundance of creativity to the table. "With both of us involved, the tasks I used to manage and pursue alone now carry double the passion. Everything feels amplified and intensified," she adds.

Sagrika has a different view of her daughter. "If Gaurika says she's not creative, I wouldn't buy that. If your roots lie in Banaras, you are bound to have the little ingredients of culture, which include not just the colours of textiles, but also the colours of the ghats, Ganges river, sunrise and sunsets, funeral pyres, temples and the dances."

Renowned as the UNESCO epicenter of arts and creativity, the "city of lights," (as Banaras is popularly called) bestows upon its residents a profound shade of cultural finesse. Sagrika remembers how she used to nudge her daughter to pursue arts fiercely. "Even though she studied finance, I kept telling her to study arts and music. Now that I look back, I think her decision to study finance was sound."

As far as creativity is concerned, the mother believes that ‘history is repeating all over again' as Gaurika continues to grasp the technicalities of the field. "I had to take on the legacy. Especially now that the company is 27 years old and is more of an institution now than just a fashion brand," remarks the fresh face of Warp ‘n Weft.

A skilled artisan in Banaras works on yarn to intricately weave silk sarees, mastering the art of warp 'n weft. Pics/Warp 'n Weft

- Manifesting a design on fabric -

"A design always follows an inspiration," articulates the senior Rai, "It could be a thought, it could be just a word that you may use in your interview today with me that may leave me thinking, okay, is that a possibility, how do I translate it?"

However, she concedes that this inspiration is followed by a highly technical process. It's commonly assumed that handloom weaving is simple because it's handmade, but that's not accurate. In reality, it involves intricate science and mathematics, surpassing even the complexity of embroidery.

In embroidery, you can simply sketch your design on paper and convey it to the artisan who can then create it. However, weaving operates differently. It adheres to a grid system, particularly with handlooms, where the movement of shuttles and the interlacing of yarns by needles (bobbin weft) follow specific patterns, she informs.

"The grid, measured in centimeters and millimeters, must be precisely interpreted for the pattern to be translated. Even when designing on paper, it's not solely about artistic skill; one must also grasp the intricacies of the loom," stresses Sagrika. Then, the design is translated accordingly at the workshops where artisans sit in Banaras.

It's a collaborative effort between the Sagrika, the designers and the weavers. "Even when I hire textile designers, I emphasise that they comprehend the mechanics of the loom to execute the design effectively. This meticulous aspect is perhaps why I gravitated towards looming effortlessly; its inherent structure kept me mentally stimulated and engaged," Sagrika tells Midday.

When asked about how challenging it is to manifest a design on a piece of fabric, she differs by saying, "I don't perceive these as challenges or limitations of handloom; rather, they are nuances that assist us in structuring our vision. They enable us to methodically realise our dream of bringing a bit of Banaras to Bombay."

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