For centuries, Banarasi weaving has been synonymous with silk and its luminous, intricate, and ceremonial creations. InIntersections, Tilfi extends the craft into new material terrain, introducing a collection of patterned linen and cotton-by-linen sarees that marry the quiet tactility of linen fibre with the technical and aesthetic language of Banarasi handloom.
The Craft
Linen is an uncommon guest in Varanasi’s weaving tradition: strong yet inelastic, earthy in texture, and naturally diffusive in its finish. Its introduction to the loom has required a rethinking of practice: recalibrated tension, adapted reed settings, modified shedding techniques, and weaving in high humidity to temper the fibre’s resistance. InIntersections, this negotiation between fibre and hand has yielded four sarees whose patterns (stripes, checks, and floral accents), carry the geometry of the loom, softened by the material’s lived-in ease.
The Campaign
The name Intersections is both literal and metaphorical — a play on the meeting points of craft, materiality, and personality. It is where the precision of Banarasi weaving meets the earthy tactility of linen, and where the inherent versatility of these textiles comes alive in the hands of different wearers.
Photographed and filmed within the architectural stillness of an art gallery, the campaign presents three muses across age and inclination: a young architecture student with functional ease, a mid-career writer with quiet authority, and an art patron with understated elegance. Together, they reveal how a single weave can inhabit entirely different worlds, simply by the way it is worn.
The Sarees
Each saree is named after a pioneering figure in Indian art, whose visual language echoes the interplay of structure and expression. The measured horizontals ofAmrita recall expansive, poised compositions;Arpita arranges its checks as narrative frameworks;Nilima lets floral motifs bloom within grids; andAnjolie distills its form to essential lines framed in lustre.
A Softer Expression of Banaras
WithIntersections, Tilfi offers a new chapter in Banarasi weaving, retaining the rigour of heritage craftsmanship while embracing the tactile, contemporary sensibility of linen. This is a softer expression of Banaras, woven with precision, worn with ease, and conceived for a life attuned to both art and craft.
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