‘Life is filled with stories and tales. Stories are a beautiful form of expression. Since the stone age, stories are not only expressed through verbal forms but are also expressed in other creative visual forms too. Clothing is one such expression. It is an embodiment of stories.The dress you wear represents the story of the creator, his/ her inspiration and its expression on the pattern/design of the dress. Even the transformation of many threads, woven and stitched into a dress is a beautiful tale in itself. Kalanjali has launched “ The Kilims Collection”, a concept inspired by the theme of expression. It is extremely interesting to note that, Kilim was a method used as a means by women to weave their story and the Curator at Kalanjali chooses this theme to work with their storytelling methods in fabric form.
Understanding the term ‘Kilim’ and its history:
The word ‘Kilim’ means ‘to spread roughly’. This Persian word is used to define tapestry-woven rugs that were produced in Iran, Turkic countries of Central Asia and many such places. Traditionally, it was used as prayer mats. But in the modern days, it is simply used as a decorative. It is said that the history of these carpets date back to the 4th-5th Century in China. These carpets are created by tightly interweaving the strands together. As mentioned before, Kilim was used as a means by women to weave their stories and the motifs present on the carpet denote these stories. Some of the motifs used by women or tribal weavers is to express their desire to protect their flocks from wolves, whereas some other motifs denote good luck etc. Each and every motif on the Kilim rug has a distinct story with a meaning.
The Collection:
The garments in this collection are stitched in different fabrics like Cambric, Chanderi and Modal. The garments are fabulously printed using the screen printing technique. The motifs on the garments have distinct meanings related to the simple village life in it, in geometrical designs . Since the inspiration of this collection is taken from Kilim, based on village setting, the colour palette consists of a combination of muted and dark shades. Basically, the palette is rich in earthy colours like clay, cuban sand, pesto, shaded spur etc. This collection provides a wide range of garments for women, men and children. From kurtis, indo-ethnic tops and wrap around skirts for woman, kurtas for men, lehenga and frock for the girls to dapper kurta pyjama sets for the boys, this collection provides the most simple yet unique garments for your entire family. Let your actions and clothing express your story more than your words.
