Top Notch | Sagrika Rai: 'I used to wear high-street clothes when younger; but when I wore our weaves, heads 'turned'

IN 1997, when the young bride and new mother Sagrika Rai missed her hometown Varanasi, or Benares, as it’s commonly known, she decided to do the next best thing. The then 26-year-old brought to Mumbai the finest Benaresi saris the city had seen. She opened a small store called Warp & Weft, in the old city’s Marine Lines area, where it still stands in a modern and refurbished avatar 25 years later.

“I was born in Benares, in a family of academics who taught at the Banaras Hindu University. I studied there topped my Masters program. Growing up here, I was always exposed to the highest level of human skills and craftsmanship, we would shop regularly with traders and weavers,” she remembers. But by the time she was 20, Rai says she could tell the traditional crafts were diluting. “Things on sale became very different from what my mother and grandmother had bought. Textiles are such emotional things for us, we connect them to our memories. And when I was getting married, I only wanted to bring the best of Benaresis with me.” This would eventually lead to her opening her store.

There are Benaresis and there are Benaresis, the king of weaves has been a lucrative business among most sellers of saris. But Warp & Weft has always remained true to its traditional roots. “Our aesthetic has been that of a purist, this has always been the ethos of the brand. I mean we are talking about the most signature craftsmanship of the country, how does it justify to dilute craft to make it more “relevant”? Benaresis enjoy a certain calibre and definition, the raison d’etre of Warp & Weft is to secure this. We work with archived motifs and patterns, whether it is silk, muslin or pure chiffon,” she reasons.

Warp & Weft has received multiple awards for Rai’s efforts in the conservation of Banaras handloom, including the New Indian Express Devi award from the hands of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself. The store counts Hema Malini and Soha Ali Khan as its customers, and loves to dress movie stars like Deepika Padukone who share the same respect for craft.

“I used to wear a lot of high street clothes when I was younger. But I found that when I wore our own weaves, heads turned and I began to receive more compliments. Isn’t it always nicer to stand out from the crowd?” she smiles.

Rai believes her store offers the best of traditional weavers and design patterns for her customers. Warp & Weft saris are beautifully compartmentalised into kadua weaves (a generic term for a weave interlaced with thread), kadiyal weaves (weft changes on the border), Katrava (monotones with a single thread). Their design patterns are also nostalgic of classics like the chouka, rangkat, kinkhwab and the gorgeous shikargah. “Royal families used to hunt asa hobby and the artisans created hunting scenes on weaves to please their patrons,” she explains. The gyasar is another gorgeous style Rai says we need to be proud of as it has a GI from the UNESCO saying it belongs to Varanasi.

What is like working with artisans in Benares, I ask. “I’m in a space where we have a longstanding and beautiful relationship. Twenty-five years later, I can still say our master weavers are still with us. Their children have been educated and they have still joined us to weave. We are discreetly nurturing women weavers too, and I am doing some projects with them,” she says. “When I was younger my mother had to accompany me everywhere in Benares. Now I work from 9am until midnight, and I feel quite comfortable. The law and order is improving. The city has so much treasure and history,” she avers.

Rai’s 26-year-old daughter Gaurika has joined the business as Chief Business Officer. She was responsible for setting up the store’s ecommerce during the pandemic, which now contributes to 20 percent of the sales. “She has her eyes set on the domestic market and I am sure she will do well with it,” Rai says. “I am hoping to take the Benaresi to a global audience, and ensure Warp & Weft is an institution in itself.”

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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