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Loving Ikat… with Gleamberry.com

Ironically, the latest trend this season is something that’s timeless and evergreen…and that has been around for decades! The gorgeous and subtle weaves of Ikat – an ancient form of handlooms, from AndhraPradesh.

Ikat textiles are characterized by their blurring shades of colour… one almost merging into another – an illusion created by the subtle weaving of fabric by skilled master-craftsmen from the village Pochampally in Andhra.

Ikat has made a huge comeback this season and is one of this year’s major fashion trends… keeping in line with the whole ‘back to basics’, ‘make in India’ and ‘revival of Indian handlooms’ wave! And one of the best places to find really gorgeous Ikat fabrics and accessories is gleamberry.com! In fact, it’s heaven for all kind of Indian handlooms!

When I first visited glemberry.com, I was totally taken in by the whole philosophy behind it. These two young women, Richa and Manorama, gave up their successful corporate careers and decided to just travel to remote villages, themselves, all over India, in search of undiscovered weavers and craftsmen. They identify them, train them and through their site, give them a platform to sell their art while earning what they really deserve! Both ethical and creative!

The other section that I thought was amazing on their site, is the one called ‘collection’. Here they sort products based on the art form. It’s amazing to just go through each of them and to rediscover traditional Indian art that you’ve probably always seen, but never known details of.

Two of my favorite things to buy on the site are the handbags (they have the cutest ones) and Dupattas! Gorgeous and vibrant… dupattas that add so much to your outfit – not just as ‘dupattas’ but also as scarves, head-wraps and various other things! (In fact, my next post is all about reinventing ethnic dupattas into super-cool, casual outfits ;))

And especially with fashion designers going the whole ‘reinvent and rediscover’ route, you need not think of handlooms as ‘Ethnic-wear’ only! There’s a whole lot you can do to contemporize and give your Ikat and other handlooms, a very funky, western-fusion look, with just the way you have these outfits stitched (or wrapped)…! And in doing so, you need not get a hole in your pocket gunning for designer wear!

Because Gleamberry.com has a wonderful collection of fabrics as well… you can just buy them and have them stitched in simple and really fashionable ways, and get your own ‘designer wear’ at a fraction of the cost!

So here’s one of my favorite looks that I’ve created till date… Bold, fusion and earthy… all at the same time! The outfit is entirely make in Ikat fabric with this vibrant Ikat dupatta and a very gorgeous clutch with Bani embroidery and vintage zari-work – both from http://www.gleamberry.com/

Hope you like the pictures and hope it inspires you to quirk up and buy more Indian handlooms 😉

Location: Hometown of Ikat – Hyderabad, Osmania University.

 

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About Me

Sonal is a Post Graduate in Luxury Brand Management from Polimoda Institute of Fashion Design and Marketing, Florence (Italy) and has over 9 years of experience as a Brand Strategist working in the advertising industry.



She has also been a Consumer Insights Miner specializing in fashion and luxury brands.