Ghanshyam Sarode,Textile Designer, Hyderabad, A.P., India
Ghanshyam Sarode is a textile designer with a difference. He produces reams of material in mind-blowing patterns on handloom weaves and allows his creations to be sold by boutiques with their tag.
Inspiring Fashion enthusiasts over a period of 22 years, he has woven his way through an enriching experience of textiles and varied surface treatments. Is there a large fan following for designer saris? Says Sarode, "These sarees appeal to and are appreciated only by a small percentage of buyers.
Having worked with the artisans and craft men all over the country, he has unmatched knowledge of the traditional craft forms, in entire south in weaving patterns. His stand apart quality lies in modifying these traditional crafts for the modern consumer yet preserving the richness of the craft and tradition. Ghanshyam Sarode is most established designer in India in terms of infrastructure and distribution; He holds the status of a revivalist in the Indian fashion industry, which has successfully bridged the gap between traditionalism and modernity. His designed sarees are well known personalities in India and abroad. He creates different sarees- Uppada sarees, Paithani sarees, Cotton Gadwal sarees and fine Cotton Ikats.
No matter how creative and original an artist, designers like Sarode have to be content with being able to push their masterpieces through the competitive market at the cost of their individuality as designers and put up with a booming pirated business. As long as patenting doesn't become a (mandatory) reality, many a master artisan is bound to an incognito existence.
Not that anonymity deters Sarode from pursuing his heart's desire. He is relentlessly into indigenous R&D. He creates modern textiles on power loom like Egyptian cotton shirting, silk and blended yarn furnishing and supplying mainly to the boutiques.
He has had successful shows and stand alone fashion in India including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Calcutta, to name a few. He has four extremely successful exhibitions in USA, since last five years. He traveled all over the world on several occasions like textile fairs mainly to UK, Europe, Hongkong, Singapore, Dubai and Koria.
PAITHANI SAREES
PAITHANI SAREE - WEAVING A GOLDEN LEGACY:
He has an expanse comprising the best of bests. A Paithani (also a royal family weave) sari in soft silk catches the eye. The designs themselves are recreated from the antique paintings of Ajanta, the royal brocades of the Nawabs of Bengal, Mughal architecture and the ancient temple frescos of the south. And the colour combinations are fabulous, to say the least.
Among the most gorgeous of Indian paithani sarees, of the most celebrated textile—the gold embroidered pathani saris, the royal charm, with its wonderful designs. Exemplifying the merger of the aesthetic with the symbolic, the saris today are a prized possession.
In Paithanies- Ghanshyam Sarode’s creations are understated statements of feminist, luxury and glamour. Taking the comfort of the wearer in mind, his uniqueness, in Paithani sarees, lies in creating minimalist and contemporary sarees. His aesthetics lie in treating silhouettes with subtle fabrics, passionate colors and the richness created with zari.
The collection offers a feast of dazzling colours and intricate designs that blossomed from her efforts to revive the original magnificence of an ancient textile craft that personified the glory of princely India. The collections of intricate and rare designs are a rare opportunity for all sari lovers to a see a complete Paithani collection. The collection reflects the valuable legacy that was passed from generation to generation and gives the elegance of textile and fabric that lent the splendor to the royal durbar of erstwhile India. Paithani is an art of traditional handmade textile creation in finest mulberry silk, gold and silver zari, arresting colors and intricate designs and motifs that one admires in museum as proud relics of bygone era. Factual motifs, birds, animals, figures, to this day reflect strongly the impact of tradition.
Famous in history and legend as Pratisthan, the small town of Paithan on Godavari, near Aurangabad, is one of the oldest cities of the era. Greek historical records describe it as a great centre of trade (300-200 BC). It is mentioned in the fourteenth Edict of Asoka and was the capital of eminent Andhra King in the first century A.D.
All these traces of the ancient city has now disappeared except one and all weaving industry which once achieved acclaim in the lands of Ptolemy and the Ceasers and is today facing extinction because of the enormous cost of materials and almost total lack of demand. Once wealthy weavers eke out a hand mouth living. Deft, sensitive fingers trained for generation to weave exquisite patterns of gold and silver on gossamer silks, have taken to the pick-axe and the shovel.
During the first two decades the last century the weavers worked with threads of pure gold and silver, drawing their inspiration for color and design solely from the frescoes of Ajanta practiced exclusively by a certain section of the people of paithan for the past 600 years.
The Nizam of Hyderabad was also attracted to the Paithanis and made several trips to the small town of Paithan. His daughter-in-law, Niloufer, is believed to have introduced new motifs to the border and pallav (outer end of the sari) designs.
The process of "embroidering" these patterns is unique and involves all the four requisites of excellence; much time, patience, skill and mostly the wall of silk yarn is laid on the loom with the motif, drawn to actual size, placed.
Ghanshyam Sarode
B-63,1st Floor,
D.D.Colony,
Shivam Cross Road,
Hyderabad-500 007
Phone Nos:
91 40 27425666
27428814
27421449
27428144
Mobile Nos:
9440051735
9490781666
Mail: sarode@gmail.com
