When you open a young girl’s wardrobe, you see scarves, dupattas crowding the door-racks whereas a collection of dresses, skirts, salwar kameez, shorts, dirty denims and tops are found on the shelves.

However, there’s now a new addition to the closet — the humble cotton sari. Whoever thought that a sari is something the young steer clear of, take note for the young wearers have not only embraced the whole nine yards, they are loving it too.
Although there is a huge variety of saris targeted to the Facebook generation available in the market, it’s the cotton cousins that have won the game. Whether it’s the simple ivory sari with gold border, Mangalgiri, cotton khadi, Dhakai, chanderi and the regional range or the fashionable versions, there are plenty of takers.
Ever since her granny introduced her to cotton saris, 24-year-old Aashima Malik has been wearing them to office, parties and wherever possible. She says, “Saris bring an edge to your wardrobe. Cotton saris are the best way to beat the heat and yet stand out. They are comfortable yet fashionable. I usually pick up cotton saris from Fabindia but a lot of my saris have come from my grandmother’s collection. You don’t find those designs anymore. I have this particular red sari from her wedding, which remains my favourite.”
Cotton saris are not only comfortable for the Indian summer, if worn well can accentuate a woman’s curves perfectly. “I always yearned to wear a sari ever since I was a kid. I first picked up a cotton sari a few years ago during Durga Puja. I have to confess that I have got as many compliments for wearing saris before as I did for that cotton one. A cotton sari is sensual yet earthy at the same time. A cotton sari doesn’t wear you, you wear it. The shelves in my closet are now home to a lot of Dhakai, Bengal cotton, and cotton-silk saris,” says 26-year-old content developer Anupriya Karmakar.
The yarn-loving designers are also creating marvellous weaves incorporating experimental textile techniques. From pioneers like Abraham and Thakore, Neeru Kumar and Anju Modi to designers like Rahul Mishra, Gaurav Jai Gupta, Dev r Nil, Vaishali S, everybody is working towards developing interesting textured surfaces that immediately draw the young.
Prasansha Saha, 27, design director for Aharin India, has done an entire range of cotton hand-woven saris using motifs from traditional and vintage designs. “The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a cotton sari is an ivory voile sari with a beautiful hand-woven border. I just love cotton and cotton saris are a wonder. In India you get them in so many beautiful weaves like the Jamdanis, Tangails of Bengal or the white on white chikankari of Lucknow or even the hand-painted kalamkari sari,” she says.
Even though she designs her own saris, she picks up a lot of traditional saris as well. “I love my collection. It has off-white, black, kalamkari, chikankari and one of them has a thin border picked up and designed from an antique Indian piece now kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.”
Designer duo Dev r Nil while working on saris play with the count of the ply and change of yarn to bring sheer and opacity within the same piece. While designer Vaishali S. works on hand-woven organic cotton, Rahul Mishra uses two contrasting families of yarn which are woven together to appealing effect.
“The textile that we developed in the handloom of Bengal has a mystery about it. We have also developed youthful checks in various shades and given the matt look of cotton and smoothness of cotton-silk within the same fabric. And that is enough to draw the young crowd,” says Nil.