Saris with sneakers and crop tops, or saris draped like dresses and worn with a jacket on top—Gen Z is bringing the 5.5-meter unstitched garment full circle to what it used to be for many Indians: an everyday article of clothing. To be sure, the occasion-wear sari persists. But now the sari is seen as being less cumbersome than millennials perceived it to be. Among the more visible—and concentrated—examples of this are in Instagram reels and videos of people dancing in saris, styling it in ways that fit into their lifestyles and activity levels.
To tap the Gen Z sari-wearing set—now aged 15-29—among others, designer Ashdeen Lilaowala has thrown his hat in the ring of affordable fashion. The price range of his latest collection comprising print saris and printed-saris-with-embroidered-borders is Rs 21,000-90,000, compared with Rs 90,000-Rs 6 lakh for previous collections.
As with his Parsi Gara embroidered saris, there's an awareness of the history of the garment in the new "Floralista" collection. For instance, the motifs are drawn from that unique point in history when Parsi opium-and-cotton traders (and their wives) were placing orders with Chinese embroiderers for opulent saris in the 19th century, building on ideas and styles inspired from Chinese, Zoroastrian, Iranian as well as Indian traditions.
To be sure, the Chinese textiles and embroidery experts hadn't seen a sari before. So there was a bit of a learning curve, but in India, the saris quickly became the garment of choice of the rich and the modern in Mumbai, Gujarat, Calcutta and other parts of India. There were some natural meeting points, too. Like the choice of motifs: Lilaowala explains that the Indian paisley is distinctly different from the Chinese. The Indian ambi has a curved, round base compared with the more squarish Chinese paisley that sometimes supported on the five lotus petals associated with Gautam Buddha. Lilaowala, who travelled around India to see Parsi Gara collections as part of a project with the Parzor Foundation, recalls seeing saris with both types of paisleys in the same garment. "You'll find it in this superb version which became very popular... you had this pallu border with these two rows of paisleys. Very often, the top row is with these very round, very Indian paisleys. And the bottom row is with these very squarish Chinese paisleys with five petals below which kind of signify the seat of the Buddha. So, in one sari itself, you could see two traditions coming together."
The Chinese penchant for embroidering elements of the natural world also went down well with the Parsis, given the importance of nature in Zoroastrianism. Historically, fish and flowers shared sari-space with Chinese-inspired motifs from Chinamen to cranes and dragons. (The Parzor Foundation has also gathered evidence of Parsi women learning these embroideries from observing the Chinese artisans-cum-salesmen who came to sell them their wares in India.)
As the name "Floralista" suggests, ASHDEEN's latest collection uses floral motifs. Lilaowala says these motifs were hand-drawn before being printed on the fabric. The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, graduate says the main reason for going mostly-embroideryless (there are still some embroidered borders in the mix) in this collection is to bring down the cost—though at a starting price of Rs 21,000 a sari, it's still hugging the ultra-premium space.
In an interview at his Greater Kailash-1 store in Delhi, Lilaowala talked about the history of Gara, the future of Indian embroidery and why he chose to almost-eschew embroidery in his new collection. Edited excerpts:
You've done a print collection in 2025, but ASHDEEN the label has focused on embroidery in the past?
We do Parsi Gara, which is a traditional kind of the embroidery, and we kind of reinterpret and do our thing with it. And the new collection which we have is a print collection inspired by the Parsi tradition. So there's like a mix.
When you say inspired, is it in terms of materials, motifs?
We take the same kind of flowers and the same kind of language, and kind of hand-draw it and then take it on to the saris.
Part of the reason why Parsi Gara is special is the history of it: how it came out of this very specific history when India and China were trading. So, if you forego the embroidery, how does that sort of translate into the same tradition or tap into that history?
The whole thing starts with Parsi traders trading with China. They were taking cotton and opium from India and trading it for tea. Tea in China was extremely popular, and it was a new craze in Europe. The Parsis were bringing back the tea and they were selling it to the British and the British would resell it in Europe and make huge profits. So the commodity which kind of started it all was tea, but obviously with it was the opium and the cotton.
When the traders went there, they realized China was producing these opulent ceramics and beautiful embroideries also for the European market. They (the embroideries) were used for screens, for shawls, various other things.
And legend has it that a Parsi trader asked a Chinese craftsperson to create a sari for his wife. Now, obviously, them not knowing what a Parsi lady looked like or whatever, the initial sarees were more like tapestries, like art pieces, or today what would be like a wall-hanging. They didn't know how it got draped or how it moved, so (it was) more like these beautiful art pieces.
Was it stiff then? Not drape-able?
Not stiff, but (the Chinese embroiderers then) didn't know which direction (to work in). (There were embroidered with) Big birds and big creatures, which (did) not necessarily lend very well to the draping—going in opposite directions, and things like that.
We do have on record that this Parsi lady called Putlibai Dawar went to China in 1870-something, and she was wearing her sari and (which must have) helped (the Chinese embroiderers) to imagine and build on the whole Gara narrative.
It became extremely popular and it became this new symbol or this new identity which the Parsis who had now shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai) and had become much more affluent with the whole trade and other businesses were, kind of, very happy to incorporate in the wardrobe because it was distinctively different from anything which you found in India. So they incorporated these very oriental motives. There was obviously a lot of meaning to things. They picked the flowers, they picked birds, because even in Zoroastrianism, there is a lot of reverence for nature and we respect nature in its form. That, I think, was the link or what we kind of found very endearing with this craft. I think that's where it all started, and then it became like a big trade.
You had not only saris coming, but you had borders and you had costumes for children, which are called Jablas, and you had Ijars and you know, bags and things like that. And that became a business because by then there were definitely more families now settled in China, Japan and smaller islands like Hong Kong, Canton, etc. And there, the wives were giving the designs, the husbands were sending it to shops in Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad, which also had Parsi populations. And it kind of had become popular among other Indians also, to attach borders onto the saris. That was in its most popular phase.
Then, in the early 20th century, China was going through its communist movement; India was going through its independence struggles. And with (Mahatma) Gandhi declaring a ban on anything which was imported, the trade had slowly kind of died out, and there wasn't a lot coming in, but there were still (some) things coming.
Fashion, it's a wave. Nothing stays forever. People get bored of it and people start liking new things. There were these new chiffons and Georgettes which came in. People looking at the Indian independence movement were doing khadi and various other things. But the good thing was that many Parsis, not all but many Parsis, knew how precious Gara was and what it meant in the history and the legacy. So they preserved it quite well. Many did not. They cut it up, made gowns and various other things and things like that. So there was obviously that.
Then in the '80s, there was a in Bombay, Naju Dawa, who kind of revived Gara in a sense. But she was using the same technique to do traditional designs and her interpretations. And it was pretty similar to the original. And that brought in a wave of people. But obviously the technique is laborious and it is time-consuming. (After her,) many people dealt with it or played with it, but did not make it a mainstream focus.
For us, I was a textile student at NID Ahmedabad; I joined in '98. I did research on Parsi Gara with the UNESCO Parzor Foundation, for which I travelled to China, I travelled to Iran and I was looking at the roots, and routes, to see what it kind of meant and how things were interrelated. There were motifs which meant a lot more than just being decorative symbols.
The most beautiful example is the Paisley, which is called the booty and various other things. You'll find it in this superb version which became very popular, which was that you had this pallu border with these two rows of paisleys. Very often, the top row is with these very round, very Indian paisleys. And the bottom row is with these very squarish Chinese paisleys which have like five petals below which kind of signify the seat of the Buddha. So in one sari itself, you could see two traditions coming together.
It is beautiful to see, even in the earlier Garas, how ideas, motifs, traditions, travelled, colours travelled with people travelling. In the Tang dynasty period, a Persian princess was married to a Chinese emperor. So there was a lot of transfer of ideas and traditions and art forms which moved with her. It's all very interesting to see, how this it all jumbled up. This amalgam to form a tradition and an aesthetic, which today is popularly known as Parsi Gara. But we still don't know how the word how Gara came about. There's not an exact or direct translation in Gujarati or in any other language, as to what Gara means. So that's a bit open still, after many years of research.
I think it's a craft or it's an aesthetic which had its moments. It moved, it amalgamated like a stone rolling down the river and picking up all these different traditions and ideas.
You have lots of saris which were later made in India also. There were craftspeople in Surat and Bombay who made saris. So there was that interpretation. There were women, Parsi women, who were kind of commissioned by famous families like the Jeejeebhoys and the Tatas to travel to China and make saris for them.
Textile revivalist Ashdeen Lilaowala trained at NID Ahmedabad. (Image courtesy ASHDEEN)
Talk to us about this moment in history, when the production of these saris moves to India. How does the craft move - is it a steep learning curve for Indian embroiderers?
The skill of doing the embroidery, India has always had it.
Once they saw the scale... people were enterprising enough to employ people here in India to do it (make the saris, once they'd seen there was a market for them). And it also became like a hobby to do in the house. So (one) there was an industrial way of producing, and (two,) a lot of women just sitting around in the evening would do border, do Gara saris for themselves. And many women, even in those times, would employ two to three craftspeople in the house to come and sit on the (front porch)... and do customized pieces for different families. When somebody married from one family to the other, the pieces moved and travelled from one part of the country to the another part of the country. It was interesting when I was doing the research, there would be women who would show me some piece and say, you know, this is my piece only. And I wanted to say sorry to burst your bubble, but I've seen this sari in three other cities. But they may not have seen it or they feel that the family specifically commissioned it.
So it was a legitimate trade. Even then, like early on, it wasn't cheap because it was always hand-done and it was a skill.
You mentioned that fashion is a cycle. Do you see a sort of continuum in terms of how the sari was worn in the early 1900s to now?
No, I think there is a lot of change. Women are wearing saris in a very different way. Just the idea of a sari... Obviously, what we do - because of the technique - it's not an everyday thing. It is occasion-wear, it is a piece you would buy to wear for a special occasion and to kind of pass it on. It's not going out of fashion like six months down the line. Today we have the idea of a draped saree with the frill and things like that. That may be a little more seasonal compared to something which is like six, 5.5 meters of Gara.
Obviously, today women wear it differently with corsets and different blouses and shirts and all that has changed. But the idea of Gara and also the idea that sari I think a few years ago was it was cumbersome and it was painful. "And we don't know how to do the pleats" and the young girls weren't touching it. It's different today. I think it's become quite a statement, and people wear it with a lot of pride. People are not wearing it with the idea that, oh, it is something which is traditional, but (like) let me make it my own and modern. That change is lovely to see and people are aware of what they're buying.
Tell us about your printed saris. Was pricing the main concern or was there something else?
Pricing, definitely. And also, OK, something which is easier to wear, like you can wear more often while the full-embroidered one, you would have to wear on a occasion. This would be easier to wear for dinners, parties, etcetera. So that is kind of the idea behind the print range and not everybody can do the Gara. I think the print is easier to wear and kind of take it forward.
It's also an interesting story around, intergenerationally, how people are wearing saris. People, both men and women, seem to be experimenting with drapes, and styles, and blouses or tops.
I think today a lot of them don't see it in the traditional sense. Sari with sneakers is, yeah, it's a very done thing. And also today there's a lot of pride there. I think that confusion has gone because otherwise it was uncool to wear a sari; today it's very cool to wear a sari. There's a sense (among the current) generation today, realizing that it's not so difficult, it's not so problematic to maintain (a sari). It's all manageable.
And obviously designers love playing with the sari and the drape; some experiments are good and some are not. Today (when designers get involved with a craft or weave,) there is a whole collection, there is an idea behind it, there is draping behind it. That is the shift which has happened and which is a good thing.
Tell me about the new collection: motifs, colours...
I'll tell you the process. We started with looking at different flowers, and we decided we'd hand-paint them. Then the artworks were scanned and digitally transferred on to the saris. If you go close and see, there's a lot of detail in the painting. It's playful, it's fun, and it's vibrant and cheerful. So great for summer. You can wear it in the day. You can kind of dress it up, wear it in the night. And also we've looked at the idea of, you know, pairing it with an organza kimono or a printed kimono.
It's not necessarily your traditional kind of kimono - you can take it from under, you can take it above (wear one side of the kimono over the sari and the other below). You can wear a printed kimono, or an organza one with a belt or a floor length kimono with the sari. Or you can just wear a printed blouse below. So it's to not be in the traditional genre only, you can wear a shoe with a print, to kind of add to the statement. We've done a big skirt below, one with some bounce in it, not your traditional petticoat (in one of the stylings for the shoot). So it kind of gives you that shape or a figure. Make an accessory or something. So have fun. Basically, the idea is to make it more vibrant, more youthful.
Instead of a petticoat, try wearing a full skirt under the sari. (Image courtesy ASHDEEN)
Tell is about your artisans. You haven't done a lot of embroidery for this collection, but is the same team of artisans?
Same artisan, same design team, and the embroidery still happens. We employ more than 300 craftspeople in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal and each one has their own skill sets. The ones in Uttar Pradesh do French knots and more detailed work, while the ones in Bengal do a lot of the satin stitch and they also do some of the French knots and things like that. And then we have a lot of them in Delhi who do the sampling and also the production. So we have a mix of craftspeople in these three places, and we have a design team who does the sketching and drawing for the saris and also they were the ones who did the drawings for the prints.
Where in UP are your embroiders from? Is this around Lucknow?
No, it's closer to Farukkabad.
In terms of fabric, now, silk of course has its own history. How are you thinking about the fabric that goes into the making of these saris?
We are looking at crepes, georgettes, satins, which is also something which most women are comfortable wearing. We do do different collections in which we introduce something which is hand-woven, something which is from Bengal, which is a mix of Tussar (silk). We've done banana silk also, or we've done viscose. So there is experimentation, but the classics... very often we see a lot of women will try on everything and then later say 'crepe, I prefer crepe'.
Somewhere it's a mix of things... Not all fabric is hand-woven. And hand-woven fabrics also have their own limitation for when they go on to a frame and you have to do the embroidery on it. We do a good mix.
One more question around the artisanal aspect of it. What's your read on the embroidery ecosystem in India right now? Is it becoming harder to get skilled embroiderers? Is skilling happening at the scale that it should?
We are blessed with many, many, many talented craftspeople across the country with various skill sets. And today, I think, never have there been so many embroiderers doing such fantastic work. So if you see Dior or Versace or even people like Tarun (Tahiliani) or Anamika (Khanna) or Rahul Mishra, they're using abundant embroidery. And all this embroidery is happening in the country. So there is a lot of employment being generated for craftspeople across the country. And then people who focus on a certain technique, or somebody like me who focuses on Parsi Gara, also is giving work to craftspeople. That's a good thing. Even Kasuti embroidery or soof, there are younger designers who are doing it, and doing it really well. And that, if you do it at the best of its ability, is the best thing. That raises the bar and then people aspire for that.
Today in Lucknow, you have all kinds of chikan embroidery, from good to crude to very good to absolutely stunning. Obviously, there's a price for all of it. There will always be markets for everything. It's very snobbish to sit and say, "Oh! we just want the original". Let's be practical, because there are people who can only afford to a certain extent and the market will create something for them. That's bound to happen. And then there's lots of machine work and interpretation. That is not a bad thing; there's nothing "Oh my God, blasphemous" about it because it just makes the craft or the aesthetic that's popular today accessible. Today, a young person may not be able to afford a hand-done embroidered Gara but they may be able to afford some machine-embroidered piece, but at least they have the appreciation for that technique and for that aesthetic. So I think that is the good thing.
India is known for embroidery, and we do the best of embroideries for (some) foreign brands. I think today it's back in the country and people are doing it.
What is the price range for the new collection versus the old?
Our print saris start at Rs 21,000 and go up to Rs 28,000, if it's all print. If it has embroidery and (other) elements, it goes up to Rs 80,000-90,000.
Compared with the older (sari collections)... full silk, fully embroidered saris start at around Rs 45,000-50,000 -- we have one or two designs which are in this range -- but mostly the border sarees and all start at around Rs 90,000 and go up to even Rs 5.5-6 lakh.
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