Intricately woven and handstitched Ahimsa Eri silk

Kobe silently carries the most intricate piece of craft of the collection this year. In my attempt to do justice to the depth of the craftsmanship involved, I would use bullet points so I can make you feel the textile vicariously and tangibly.

• Eri silkworms reared with intentional non-injury, hence becoming Ahimsa Eri silk
• The flattened cocoons are then handspun into yarn with Charkha
• Eva didi then wove the intricate diamond pattern on a throw shuttle loom, in the same house where the silkworms were rearer and cared for. Only Eva didi can weave with such magic in her heart, “Kapur bonai su, ritika!”. In her axomiya she would call me and tell me. Her voice rang with excitement.
• When I went to meet her, Kobe was already woven by Eva didi. When I felt her for the first time, every cell in my body felt a teardrop.
• I brought her to Mumma’s home in Punjab. Kobe was now going to go through her next phase of growing. Two panels of Eri were to be hand embroidered as a joinery. We did many experiments before Mumma and I decided upon the one. Param went through extensive training to set her hands on that embroidery. It wasn’t easy. She said “Dimaag ghum gaya”, “head is spinning”. Over the next few days, she perfected the stitch. Mumma and Param called it “jod silai”, joinery stitch.
• We decided to retain the beautiful long tassels that Eva didi made. To accentuate them, we picked and dropped many forms and ideas. Eventually, one clicked. Gentle loop edgings around the stitched-on panels. This was also the first time, Param was going to observe corner making through embroidery.
• Using Indigo dyed eri silk hand spun yarn, the gentle blue edging was embroidered.
• Finally, the mora logo was handstitched on it.
• This is how Kobe was made. If I were to detail out all of the above points, it would be a very very very long story.
• Then Kobe was worn by Kobe with her mother Thien when we did this shoot at Warburton amidst tall, tall trees and moss. Kobe and Thien lend their precious, rare energy to this textile. Thien and Kobe were like mirrors that let this textile reflect her complete energy. They took no light on themselves. They shed all light on Kobe.

Kobe is the gentlest, quietest, most invisible gem in the collection. May I put my heart out there in the form of Kobe and see who can spot her and who will take her home?

Kobe has gone through no machine contact and is 100% handmade. She is a marvel of intentional non-injury rearing of silkworms, hand spinning of woolly Eri silk yarn, natural dyeing, indigenous back strap loom weaving, hand stitching, joineries and edging skills.

Kobe is a one-of-a-kind textile designed to highlight a unique coming together of various techniques and creativity of handcraft. This design will not be recreated.