Double-sided natural dyed, handspun Eri silk sari by dyers and weavers of Assam and Nagaland

Ozzy is cool, textured, muted, structured, light, grounded at the core and flexible around, smartly casual, yet needs to keep the elegance that speaks a confident yet gentle mood. Ozzy reflects everything urban. For a heart like mine who rooted herself in a rural setting for more than a decade, the urban setting of Melbourne was absurd in every way. Soon, I found nature parks all around Melbourne to walk to. Then I started carrying a backpack to go to farmer’s markets and carry veggies back on my shoulder. Then I started observing the city lanes and the various signages. The concrete roads reminded me of the muddy tracks I left behind. The concrete roads reflected the white signages clear and clean. This palette started to become more pleasant. I was making a gradual shift from longing for the jungles. In my third year, I am beginning to feel at home. 

Ozzy represents that I have an innate ability to live with wonder. Ozzy is my way of saying that jungles were my homes in my thirties. My forties are smashing the Aussie vibe. 

Ozzy has two sides.

One side is woven on a back strap loom where the two woven panels are hand stitched using traditional joineries, a typical feature of back strap loom textiles used to extend the width. The tassels have also been done using Eri silk thread to bind the corners using embroidery stitch. Myrobalan & Lac Eri silk yarn was carried from Kamrup district, Assam, to the remote regions of Nagaland. During the pandemic lockdown, this project of weaving hand-spun Eri Silk on back strap looms was conceived as a livelihood opportunity while also creating a training module to weave a texture of yarn new to the local weavers. Weaving on the back strap loom lends a unique slub texture to Eri silk. To achieve that texture, hand-spun Eri had to be laced with rice starch and then warped onto back strap looms. We played with loose and tight weave styles to explore possibilities. The diversity of textures it brought out was a technical breakthrough for us.

The other side is a bold combination of Lac-dyed eri silk with undyed Eri woven on a throw shuttle loom.

Ozzy 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.

Param did the beadwork 

Gurmail, the tailor

Narmohan Dada, master Eri silk pioneer

Mumma, Madhu, stitching supervision

midtoan.com, the photographer

Designed by Ritika