Unmissable highlights from #TheOffbeatSari

An unusual pairing of cold hard metal and fluid silk, this handcrafted sari comprises a futuristic wave of molten gold, elegantly draped across the body. 

2018.

This show stopping ensemble by Sabyasachi and Schiaparelli, belonging to Natasha Poonawalla, marked the first time a sari had ever been worn at New York’s celebrated Met Gala.  

2022.

The Y2K-infused aesthetic of NBNW remixes a contemporary globalised perspective. The Shimma Sari, a maximalist reinterpretation of Bollywood glamour, has been worn by influencers and celebrities alike.

2017.

Get to know how these designers’ recent experiments with X-ray film from hospital waste, cut into sequins, adorn a sari imaginatively made from recycled PET bottles.

2021.

Explore textiles at their most experimental in this pre-draped sari made from synthetic polymers, with shapes inspired by amoebic forms.

2021.

Draped on a cast-concrete plinth, this heavily lacquered sari is not intended to be worn and instead creates a portrait of an absent body. The sculpture recalls the artist’s childhood: her father worked in textiles and her mother was a dressmaker with a fabric shop.  

2013.

Reflections of iridescent light and textures evoke the organic nature of seaweed shimmering in crystal waters in this beautifully hand-crafted linen and metallic sari.

2019.

Raw Mango invested heavily in reinterpreting heritage textiles through generating renewed excitement for hand-woven saris in bold colours. This one is woven from blue silk and adorned with silver floral butahs.

2019.

(gulabi meaning pink), a social justice group established in 2006 to oppose domestic violence in rural north India.