Ekaya Banaras

Ekaya Banaras is a contemporary, bespoke handloom brand presenting the finest works of textile art from the Indian craftsman's repertoire. Within a span of seven years, Ekaya became synonymous with the  preservation of rare textiles from Varanasi… a brand rooted in the cultural practices of one of the world's most ancient cities… and so proud and passionate about empowering weavers who are trying to keep these practices alive.

Ekaya is India's first handloom luxury brand, presenting the finest work of Banarasi art from the Indian craftsman's repertoire. It is the brainchild of one of the country's best-known families renowned for preserving the tradition of Banarasi textiles for over four generations and is led by Bharat Shah and his daughter Palak Shah.

The brand comes with a hundred and twenty year old legacy across four generations of the family and a community of over 10,000+ weavers contributing to the brand heritage. Ekaya was established with the vision to change the way handloom textiles are sold and presented globally and offer its clientele a very distinct product line based on the principles of heritage and artisanship.

“Whenever we saw conversations around international brands, they spoke about their craftsmanship but that wasn't the case with our Indian brands… I attempted to initiate a conversation around it - from dwelling on the rarefied weaving techniques to underscoring the beauty of the indigenous textiles and the hours of dextrous hand work which goes into a handloom product" Palak Shah told Vogue. "Moreover I initiated a dialogue about inculcating a sense of pride in investing in a homegrown, India proud label - crafting pieces, which are strongly linked to our heritage, but impossibly contemporary in their appeal… at Ekaya we recontextualised the timeless Banarasi - while keeping its soul and sanctity intact and lent it a contemporary touch."

It's interesting that Ekaya is the first textile brand to adopt the collaboration model between iconic Indian fashion designers and weavers, which helped the brand not just provide new, fresh collections but also present a traditional textile as a luxury product. Through the collaboration model the core team tries to bridge the gap between the weavers of the country and the global market thus encouraging them to learn skills to develop new original designs. Designers and fashion institutions that have successfully collaborated with Ekaya include Abraham and Thakore- Play Clan- Archana Rao- Fédération Française de la Création Couture Sur Measure at Paris Haute Couture Week- Ashdeen Lilaowala- Masaba- and Misho.

Per NICE Org.: “On being asked about the collaboration model, Palak said that the reason for Ekaya products to stand out is the equal emphasis laid on design expertise as well as textile expertise for each creation. "The collaboration model allows design expertise and new ideas to effortlessly blend with our textile expertise. Working with designers who have some textile knowledge but not proficiency enables the room for innovation to expand and out of the box thinking. This also excited the weavers create something new, something different.”"

A milestone in the prolific journey of Ekaya Banaras is the breathtaking exhibition Cousu d'or in collaboration with French couturiers. Per Explosive Fashion: "Behind the breathtaking gowns in the exhibition 'Cousu d'or at Bikaner House, there are fourteen unique stories of couturiers, all highly skilled, all challenging themselves to use the luxury handwoven fabrics of India. When Palak Shah, CEO, Ekaya sent a selection of fabrics for 'Cousu d' to the Fédération Française de la création Couture sur mesure Paris, these designers didn't know about the wide variety of styles and techniques they would receive!! Discovering the luxurious ivory fabrics for the project, the designers selected the weaves according to their design sensibility… selecting fabric they wanted to experiment with from among a selection of brocades, silks, georgettes, chiffons, tusser, organza, mashru silks and chikankari hand embroidery. The reaction was unanimous — they were quite impressed and inspired by the selection and fell in love with all the fabrics."

Through the collaboration model between iconic Indian fashion designers and indigenous weavers Ekaya aspires to bridge the gap between the nation's weavers and the global fashion market. this subsequently encourages rural weavers to learn textile craft and design in order to develop new original designs for the global market which in turn provides them with a sustained livelihood.

Ekaya was established with the vision to change the way handloom textiles are sold and presented globally and offer its clientele a very distinct product line based on the principles of heritage and artisanship – with the aim of reinforcing the traditional heritage textile's place on the luxury fashion map. Ekaya was the first textile brand to adopt the collaboration model between renowned designers and weavers, which helped the brand provide its clientele with a new fresh product range.

Ekaya Banaras retails handwoven saris, lehengas and ready-to-wear ensembles and there is a section in the store that displays distinct handwoven fabrics. The brand currently has four retail outlets in India- Delhi (2012) Ahmedabad (2013) Hyderabad (2017) and Mumbai (2019) along with an eCommerce platform www.ekaya.in. The stores offer textile connoisseurs the opportunity to re-discover and experience the unparalleled craftsmanship of hand-woven fabrics.