The history between India and Britain stretches back centuries, yet the first major exhibition dedicated to a garment as typically Indian as the saree only opened on Friday at London’s Design Museum.
Running until September 17, The Offbeat Sari exhibition features more than 60 examples of modern saris borrowed from designers and ateliers from across India, including the first-ever sari worn at the Met Gala 2022, as well as Woven steel and distressed denim saris.
Curated by Priya Khanchandani, Director of the Design Museum, the exhibition focuses on one of the world’s most iconic garments, highlighting the craftsmanship behind the contemporary Indian garment and the “fashion revolution” the sari is currently undergoing.
“The saree is currently undergoing what is arguably the fastest reinvention in its 5,000-year history,” Khanchandani said in a statement. “This makes the saree movement one of the most important global fashion stories of our time, the true nature of which little is known outside South Asia. Urban women in particular, who used to only associate the sari with celebrations, are transforming it into fresh, radical everyday wear that empowers them to express themselves, while designers are experimenting with its materiality, drawing on limitless creativity.”
Usually made from a single, unsewn piece of fabric that can be four to eight meters long, the saree has been adjusted in shape and drape over the millennia. Thus, identity, social class, taste and function have been reflected across time and geography. Although the sari is still an integral part of Indian life today, in recent decades it has been felt by many, particularly young people, to be too traditional or too uncomfortable for everyday wear.
Exhibition “The Offbeat Sari” opens at the Design Museum
However, in the last decade, the saree has been “revived” and upgraded as a fashion item. Many Indian designers are experimenting with hybrid forms such as sari dresses, ready-made sarees and innovative materials such as steel, as well as modern fabrics such as denim.
This revolution is also being driven by young people in the cities, who previously only associated the sari with festive occasions, but now also wear the versatile garment with sneakers on their way to work.
“For me and for many others, the saree holds personal and cultural significance, but it is also a rich, dynamic canvas for innovation that embodies the vitality and eclecticism of Indian culture,” added Khanchandani.
“With the news last month that India has become the most populous country in the world, the importance of India in contemporary culture is enormous, and the sari brings to the fore the country’s undeniable imagination and panache while underscoring the relevance of the Indian designs on the global stage,” explains Khanchandani.
Design Museum displays more than 60 sarees
The exhibition is divided into three main areas: “Transformation”, “Identity and Resistance” and “New Materialities”. It features over 60 saris from growing global brands and emerging ateliers including Abraham & Thakore, Raw Mango, Akaaro and NorBlackNorWhite, as well as Amit Aggarwal, Huemn, Diksha Khanna, Bodice, Tarun Tahilian, Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla and Sabyasachi.
The “Transformation” exhibition area highlights the work of Indian designers who have sparked much experimentation in recent years, such as a sequined saree by Abraham & Thakore cut from discarded X-rays made from hospital waste, a denim -Saree by Diksha Khanna and a lacquered saree wrapped around a base by contemporary artist Bharti Kher – a sort of conceptual play on the saree.
This leads to an area dealing with how the sari is fashioned as an expression of “identity and resistance”, from the empowerment of the female body to the use of the sari as an object of protest. Examples include Tamil-Swiss singer-songwriter Priya Ragu’s red silk sari, a block-print sari worn by self-proclaimed “Saree Man” Himanshu Verma, and Adavid’s “Arch” sari, worn with a shirt by the Bangladeshi architect and body awareness advocate Sobia Ameen.
There are also saris worn by protesters in rural India such as the Gulabi (“Pink”) Gang, a women’s vigilante group, and the Hargila Army, an Assamese conservationist group, as a means of protest. There’s even a section showing young women wearing saris to climb, play cricket and skateboard (as featured in the 2021 Netflix film Skater Girl).
The final area, “New Materialities”, looks at the sari as a textile and shows the complexity of sari craftsmanship from weaves, patterns, textures and colors to surface decorations. Sustainable innovations and designers who are breaking new ground are also presented here. This includes a gold saree by luxury designer with eponymous label Rimzim Dadu, crafted from hair-thin stainless steel wires to create a golden wave.
Other highlights of the exhibition include a copy of the foil jersey saree by Tarun Tahiliani worn by Lady Gaga, the ruffled saree by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla worn by Bollywood star Deepika Padukone at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and the Met Gala worn saree designed by Sabyasachi and styled with a gold Schiaparelli bodice and worn by businesswoman and socialite Natasha Poornawalla.
“It is part of the Design Museum’s job to look beyond borders at the world as it is today. The Offbeat Sari sheds light on the role of design in a vast history of fashion little known outside of India and offers us the opportunity to share with our partners and lenders in India and the South Asian diaspora here on the impact of the Indian fashion creativity,” comments Tim Marlow, director of the Design Museum.
“Indian textiles have long been ethnographically explored in international museums and we are delighted to bring innovative Indian fashion to the UK audience in London this summer,” adds Marlow.
The exhibition “The Offbeat Sari” at the Design Museum runs until September 17, 2023. The accompanying paperback “The Offbeat Sari: Indian Fashion Unraveled” will be published in August 2023.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.uk. Translated and edited by Simone Preuss.