Clinton attended few cultural and general fashion events, showing her interest in local tradition and fashion. As a mark of appreciation, she made a short visit to a Kantha stitch textiles exhibition at the Bengal Pavillion of the ICCR. At the exhibition, she went through a collection of various handicrafts, saris and other textiles from various parts of West Bengal.
The Kantha embroidery is the predominantly the most popular form of embroidery practiced by the rural women, with earliest and most popular being the basic running stitch or "phor". Traditionally worked on dhotis, sarees and dupattas, it give a wavy, wrinkled look to the fabric.
The stitch originated in Bengal to make quilts from waste fabrics that were arranged in layers and stitched together.
Preeti, administrator of Malika's Kantha Collection (MKC) said, "Mythological designs like Krishna and Radha is very much in demand. Recently we have started working on Rabindranath Tagore also and had so many exhibition held internationally at Copenhagen, Netherlands, Dhaka and other places."
MKC informed that, "Colour palette can be used very interestingly in kantha stitch, from one to maximum 20 colour combinations can be used together in a single piece."
These days the unique traditional art is also done on the line of men's wear - jackets, sherwani, shawls, coats and suits; women's wear - sari, salwar kameez, tunics, dupatta, lehenga, scarf, dress materials and ponchos, and accessories include hand bags, clutch purse, runners and mobile cover.
MKC, which produces kantha textiles since 1985 stated that, "The base fabric used in ‘kantha-stitch’ is cotton and silk. But now a days they are been used in fabrics like tussar, georgette, crepe, and chiffon."
Kantha embroidered sarees, shawls and stoles have always been a mark of richness and sophistication among Indian women. The delicate work has been seen on the global ramp before, but with powerful, sophisticated and stylish people like Hillary Clinton appreciating it, the embroidery takes a whole another level of elegance and style.
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Kolkata recently and was impressed by the rich art and culture of Bengal, esepcially the age-old Kantha stitch.
