It won’t be an exaggeration to call Nita Ambani the ultimate tastemaker in Indian fashion. She has a penchant for championing long-forgotten heritage weaves of India and bringing them to the fore with the position that she occupies in pop culture. So it felt only apropos of her to pick a rare and complex weave from the state of Gujarat to wear to celebrate one year of Swadesh, her artisan-focused retail and cultural initiative. For the occasion, she wore an Ashavali brocade sari by Royal Brocades, a brand launched by a third-generation weaver and textile revivalist Paresh Patel.
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Handwoven in Gujarat’s Ridrol village, Patel shares that the sari took five months to create between two artisans who were in charge of dyeing, warping and weaving. The 9th century weave was developed specially in the Ashaval kingdom—a region on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati river, which is present-day Ahmedabad. Ambani’s sari, woven on a traditional jala loom, features heritage motifs of elephants and peacocks, called hathi mor jangla, which Patel’s grandfather used to weave, with paisley buttas and geometric lattices. The border features parrots in a meenakari-inspired leitmotif, which is also true to the sari’s heritage style. The sari’s pallu features a symbolic tree of life design with vases, replete with meenakari detailing akin to the sari borders.
Ambani paired the sari with a custom blouse from designer Manish Malhotra. In her possession was an old velvet koti (vest) with ornate embroidery —here the philanthropist has worn it with her sari—which became the jumping off point for the designer to design the blouse. Malhotra reimagined the antique embroidery through intricate floral designs in gold.
Ambani completed the look with geometric diamond danglers, a tiered red stones necklace, and bangles and ring encrusted with rubies from her personal collection. She kept her hair and makeup simple to complement the grandiosity of the sari and her jewels.
From the Vogue desk:
“I love the idea of layering a blouse with a koti. For those of us who don’t have a treasure trove of jewels like Nita Ambani, you can pair a heritage sari look with antique gold temple jewellery or a polki choker with meenakari detailing. You can swap the danglers with a simple pair of studs, too,” says Ashwini Arun Kumar, Vogue India fashion features editor.
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