The colourful festival of Holi is celebrated in February end or early March all across India and Nepal. Signifying the start of Spring and re-awakening, the Holi festival also has mythical origins and celebrates the triumph of 'good' over 'bad'. Very much a family festival, we at Charlotte´s Web have experienced the joy and happiness of this event in person many times, and it´s a truly unforgettable one, an explosion of happiness and colour, with men, women and children taking to the streets to cover each other in a kaleidoscopic rainbow of paints and powders.
In fact, it’s one of the very few times of the year that Indian culture is open to men and women socialising so closely in public, and therefore can be a very physical event, with many warm embraces, hugs and kisses exchanged between friends and family. It’s a time to lose your inhibitions and dance to the rhythm of dholak whilst singing traditional folk songs as loudly as possible.
Inspired by this collision of colour, our founder Charlotte decided to introduce a collection of recycled silk saris clothing, using the beautiful material from original saris and transforming these delicate, exotic fabrics into new items of clothing. The trend started in Pushka, a town in the Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan, where we found an abundance of high quality real silk saris, bursting with intricate patterns and glorious colours.
The recycling and creation process also brings work and financial assistance to the women who create them, in a predominately male working environment. Thousands of people are employed in the sari making industry, making it a vital part of India´s infrastructure. Charlotte herself has worked with the same sari supplier for several years, Rattan, and they have formed a strong friendship, often spending hours putting the world to rights over several cups of chai!
Charlotte chooses all the colours and the patterns personally, taking time to ensure each and everyone is perfect – and painstakingly selecting two or three colours and patterns to ensure a complimentary match. Once selected, they are laid out on a cutting table for the true designs to begin, however, often some of the saris have to be discarded due to stains or holes. The whole process is extremely time consuming, however the resulting items are truly loved by our customers and have become some of our bestselling pieces. They are incredibly precious items and need to be cared for with love and affection due to their delicate nature.
Colour is an enormous part of both our jewellery and clothing collections, and nowhere more predominately than our recycled silk sari pieces. This way of creating unique, bohemian clothing is not only environmentally friendly, recycling materials which may otherwise be discarded, but it also helps us give back to the community, without whom none of our collections would be possible.
Enhance your summer look for 2017 by embracing the very essence of India with our recycled silk sari collections.
