Aadyam's Manish Saksena: 'Indian is not necessarily ethnic'

AT THE recent gala opening of the Sabyasachi store in Mumbai, attended by the most stylish people in the city, one man stood quietly in a corner winning admiring glances from the other few hundred guests. He wore an ivory angrakha, embroidered in white embroidery, and a diaphanous gold dhoti. In the au courant fashion designer’s maximal, superbly layered space, this man fit right in.

Perhaps it isn’t a coincidence that Manish Saksena heads the Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail group (ABFRL, the Aditya Birla group’s fashion retail arm) social enterprise Aadyam. Saksena’s two-year-old venture is among the finest young labels in handloom today, showing an excellent and elegant curation of saris and dupattas, as well as home furnishings, at their two stores in Khan Market, Delhi, and Palladium, Mumbai.

Aadyam launched rather hurriedly in October 2020, in Delhi’s Khan Market, fresh with the wounds of a frightening global pandemic. “We had been working at the back-end for six years though, and that was a big task” Saksena, 50, tells me. Aadyam began to work with three weaving clusters in India: Pochampalli, Benares and Bhuj.

“We had to understand the entire spectrum of the handloom ecosystem, and start from scratch. There were weavers, master weavers, traders, and we valued every part of it.  For example, if there were no traders, the handloom artisans would have left the trade a long time ago,” he opines.

Aadyam is a facilitator, but also a co-creator and a provider of infrastructure to these three clusters. “We also free them from the job of looking for work. We ensure their looms are being used 365 days of the year. This is a partnership, not just a transactional relationship,” he smiles.

The social enterprise’s work is truly commendable. Working alongside some truly talented craftsmen, Saksena has been able to design alongside them to create products that can fit anywhere in the world. “Indian is not necessarily ethnic,” he explains. “Our Bhujodi cushion covers and rugs are hugely admired in Spain and France, they look wonderful in Mediterranean homes, while the brocades of Benares fit better in US homes. But they are all contemporary, modern products, made by hand. Not something you would find at craft exhibitions,” he explains. “Our saris and dupattas, on the other hand, are largely for the domestic buyer. These are heirloom pieces, not trendy new-age saris. The customer for both is often the same,” he smiles.

Saksena’s tales from the villages are encouraging: One Benaresi weaver Sunil Kumar moved from working on two looms to 12. He brought his extended family into the business as well, and went from becoming a weaver to an entrepreneur.

Two mashru-weaving brothers in Bhuj have an inspiring story. One is handicapped and the other cannot speak. But both work together and have created a rather self-sufficient content life. They are happy, they work in their space and their control.

Aadyam’s revival of the Bhujodi is quite exciting. “Bhuj is not known for embroideries. Its weave is a coarser yarn and most saris from here are a thick cotton. But we’ve also gone into silks and fine counts of cotton. We also have a mashru coming out of Gujarat, where the under layer is cotton and the top layer is silk,” he says.

Bhuj’s extra weft technique called the Tangalia sees little raised dots on the fabric. These are not embroidered, but a tiny thread is rolled on to the pattern even as the warp and weft interlace. “Tangalia was used for thick skirts and odhnis, locally used by villagers themselves. Sometimes some textiles like the Benaresis enjoyed royal patronage, but Gujarat crafts have come from the villages. I find Bhujodi works wonderfully for home furnishings,” he says.

Few people in fashion can boast of a repertoire like Saksena. Drawn to fashion and textiles, he enrolled in NIFT New Delhi. He worked at Amazon, Lifestyle, Madura (ABFRL’s previous avatar, also runs Louis Phillipe and other mass brands), Arvind Mills and Tommy Hilfiger. He also did a course in London College of Fashion, and brought back all those wonderful retail, business and British ideas to India.

“These brands have put products, processes and guarantees in place and command a price for that. I have to bring the best of their practices into the handloom space,” he explains. “Aadyam products must look modern and beautiful, the stores have to be experiential — they cannot look like they have been picked up from various villages.” He especially loves that Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla takes such a keen interest in Aadyam. “He spends an hour at the stores, he’s really such a textile connoisseur and lover of fine things. To have his support is encouraging for me,” Saksena says.

Saksena’s tasteful wardrobe is always a conversation starter. “I think I’m born in the wrong era. I mean I do have my comfort wear, but when I am dressing up, I like to borrow from the royalty moodboard,” he smiles. “I can cut up saris and dupattas to make kurtas. Lately I’ve started collecting dhotis from every region, so I have a double ikat dhoti, a ponduru khadi dhoti from telangana that’s a mix of khadi and jamdani, and a kerala kasavu dhoti. I have a wardrobe full of stoles or dupattas too. And then of course, a series of white shirts,” he laughs.

Namrata Zakaria is a seasoned writer and editor, and a chronicler of social and cultural trends. Her first book, on late fashion designer Wendell Rodricks’ Moda Goa museum, is due to be published shortly. Zakaria is especially known for her insider’s take on fashion, luxury and social entrepreneurship in India. Her writing is appreciated for shaping opinions, busting myths, making reputations and sometimes breaking the odd career. Zakaria is also involved in putting together philanthropic efforts in the field of economic and environmental sustainability.

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