There is more to Parsi Gara than meets the eye. The textile tradition may have travelled to India from Persia with the Zoroastrians, but it adapted, evolved and transformed with historic exchanges between
Parsi communities and Chinese artisans. At a moment when India’s prolific textile and handloom heritage is finding renewed authority and a clearer voice on the global stage, Ashdeen Lilaowala’s Gara collections highlight how traditional crafts can evolve without losing their cultural essence. His newly released collection of sarees, Tarana, “Brings together two distinct craft forms—hand-dyed Bandhani and Parsi Gara hand embroidery. In a departure from what is expected of a brand like ours, we have appliquéd botanical motifs edged with hand-beading on a canvas of flowing Bandhani dots. Realised in a palette of festive colours, the sarees are designed for textile connoisseurs who can appreciate the beauty of layers revealing themselves one by one,” Lilaowala shares.
