Published on August 27, 2023
Karachi:
As far back as I can remember, my mother always wore a saree, whether she was doing household chores at home or going out, whatever the occasion. First thing in the morning, even before making breakfast, she used to change her night dress and wear saree.
There was a time when saree was the favorite dress of most married women and girls also often wore it, especially in functions etc.
I am told that saree was mostly worn by Hindu women and Muslim women in India before partition Gharara Or chooridar pajama, while Sikh women used to wear shalwar kameez. But gradually this distinction ended and women started wearing clothes of their choice, irrespective of their religion. pushed saree and shalwar Gharara To the extent that it seemed that it was reserved for the elderly or for occasions such as weddings, when even the young wore fine clothes. Gharara and look like dolls.
However, with the passage of time, somehow the presence of saree-wearing women in Pakistan began to decline, or in other words, the saree went out of vogue. While in the 70s women used to wear sarees in informal settings and in daily life as well, and one could see women wearing sarees on the streets and even at the workplace, fewer women wear them now.
Aiza Hussain, CEO of The Saree Girl, seems to have taken it upon herself to bring the saree back in style. She refutes the idea that it belongs to any particular community, stating that the history of the sari in the subcontinent goes back to the Indus Valley Civilization. He mentions sari-draped sculptures from the Indus Valley, which shows the historical value of this dress.
“The sari has been here for centuries and is common in many communities,” says Hussain. “But growing up, I didn’t see the sari as popular as I was told during my research; At least not in the circles and circles I have to deal with. My mother never wore a saree, though both my grandmothers loved to wear sarees. I feel a whole generation has really moved away from the saree and that somehow propelled me towards this outfit.
A sociocultural anthropologist by training, Hussain received her education from LUMS and the University of Chicago, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. She is also a researcher and enjoys food, travel and sarees. Looking at her passion, one would have thought that she might have inherited it from her family, but she says, “It is my personal passion.”
“Sari does not care about our origin or our colour; “It is we who have given the saree these labels that exist even today,” she says. , Worries about marital status and many things. I am trying to make this outfit normal again by using regional ethnic prints and breaking all the stereotypes around it, and trying to do so at a price that many people can afford. It shouldn’t even cost you an arm and a leg. We should proudly own it.”
The idea behind Saree Girl is to make sarees more accessible and affordable to the general public in Pakistan and Pakistanis in general or the indigenous diaspora abroad. “I wanted to explore the cultural dynamics around this particular outfit and then contribute to ‘The Sari Girl’,” says Hussain.
Why did it go out of style?
When we talk about the sari going out of fashion, it is usually blamed on General Zia and his Islamization campaign. It is true that “the sari was not encouraged in many places during General Zia’s time,” says Hussain. “In fact, it was frowned upon in most places. It was not really an active attack, but certainly a way of discouraging the sari, while encouraging the shalwar kameez as the proper national dress. However, in later years, the sari gained popularity in military uniforms and in some places among medical professionals.
The flip side is that since the sari is more popular in India it is often considered a Hindu dress. Hussain rubbishes this notion, saying, “It is not true at all.” Saree is also worn in other countries like Bangladesh; In Pakistan too, it is worn by various communities belonging to all religions such as Parsis. Sarees are often passed on from one generation to another as a legacy.
“I believe it depends on how things are portrayed,” says Hussain. Are socialized to believe in traditions and values. I’m a big proponent of how things are engineered over time.
Saree Girl is dedicated to not only promoting affordable sarees, but also battling perceptions about sarees. Hussain advocates, “In the twenty-first century, the time has come for us to show more progressive thinking and avoid associating religion with dress.”
Discussing how the sari has been politicized over the past few decades, such as during General Zia’s Islamization campaign, which has had an impact on women’s clothing, especially the sari, Hussain says, “When you When you think of national dress, you think of shalwar kameez; When you think of appropriate clothing for women you go back to shalwar kameez, headscarf etc abaya and all.”
She recalls Iqbal Bano’s performance at Alhamra in 1986, when she sang Faiz.Hum dekhein ge‘, wearing a black saree. [Faiz had been banned by Zia because of his close association with Bhutto, but Iqbal Bano continued to sing his poems as an act of defiance and resistance.] And because she wore a saree that was considered inappropriate and not something that common people could wear, the saree came to be labeled as revolutionary and rebellious.
“I am trying specifically against established norms,” she says. has been present.”
clothing and styles
Talking about the more popular fabrics and styles, Hussain says, “Banarasi and silk are the main fabrics we work with.” They have all types of sarees – Indian banarasi, Pakistani banarasi, cotton silk, pure cotton, lawn, organza sarees, tissue sarees, sequence net sarees. “The Ajrak saree is very popular and I am proud that we are promoting the work of Sindhi artisans through it,” says Hussain. “These hand block printed sarees are very close to my heart. The Handloom Traditional Khadi Banarasi is again very traditional and takes a lot of effort and is one of my favourites. Apart from these we also have lace chiffon, georgette, chunri sarees.”
Hussain and his team encourage all types of purdahs, from the standard and most popular purdah that is worn over the left shoulder, to the Gujarati purdah where stole comes to the fore, Marathi wear where the saree is draped separately on both the legs in a special style. Hussain explains that customers are helped on how they should wear the saree, how they should be confident about themselves, what kind of look they want and what will suit them, what they have in store for themselves. “So it’s a whole process that we work on.”
Hand block-printed Ajrak sarees made of pure cotton are gaining popularity. “I think it is because of the history associated with the organic, vegetable dye process that is completely handmade. There is no machinery involved – from drying the blocks to washing and finishing touches, everything is done by hand. These are ancient techniques that are followed in making sarees. Each saree takes about two weeks to make, so it takes a lot of effort. Yet we try to price them at reasonable rates; 5,000 and goes up to Rs 7,000-8,000.”
Another popular variety are silk sarees that come in different colors such as peacock green, maroon, plum and royal teal colors are really popular these days.
According to Hussain, ‘The Saree Girl’ is the country’s largest e-commerce platform for sarees. “I was the first one to lead this movement and push the idea of an online saree store. Before this, no online saree store has opened in Pakistan. Hussain was just 23 when she founded ‘The Saree Girl’ and a year later set up the website. Now only 26, she leads a women’s team, all of whom are younger than her and mostly girl students. “It is like a girl power initiative where I am empowering women by making them believe in themselves, feel more confident about themselves, assigning responsibilities to them, taking their constructive inputs, working together on ideas holistically I am trying to make Teamwork environment. It is an enterprise run by women and run by women.
Revival
As far as popularizing the sari is concerned, Hussain believes that a change has come. “I think this is a journey where we have definitely made a monumental impact. I can say this because many brands have come up since the time we started.
She says this can be measured by the fact that many popular brands are now marketing sarees, which is evident from campaigns for premier fashion clothing brands. Three or four years ago none of these brands were marketing sarees. He remembered that he had recently seen a mannequin wearing a saree at a premier cloth outlet in a shopping mall. “The fact that it is being mass-produced by big brands shows that people are wearing sarees more regularly.”
As a measure to revive the saree, “We have run campaigns that are very socially inclusive; For example, campaigns that actively target minorities in Pakistan, such as the campaigns on Diwali and Karva Chauth.
One can say that saree is having a revival as more and more people are wearing saree for Eid, birthday etc. “There is a movement going on, but given the decades of pluralism against the saree, we will have to fight, it will take time. This is something we are actively working on and there is still a long way to go,” says Hussain.
Being dedicated towards social responsibility, Aiza feels that in a country where majority of the population lives below the poverty line, it is important to give back to the society in whatever way possible, monetarily or through more specific campaigns. “For this, we have run campaigns where we donate 5-15 per cent towards flood relief. I donated 50 per cent of my income for a few months, and in August last year I donated 100 per cent of my income,” says Hussain.
Launching new styles and mass marketing is not enough to bring saree back. As Aiza says, with so many women suffering from colorism, body image, etc., we need to be more conscious of this and run more inclusive campaigns. And she says, this is her mission.
Rizwana Naqvi is a freelance journalist and tweets @naqviriz; can be reached [email protected]
All facts and information are solely the responsibility of the author
