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Her silks rustle in cyberspace
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Rekha Prasad's Kanchipurams are heaven-sent for south Indians in America who are snapping up the timeless silks online to be worn as saris, dupattas as well as stoles
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I do this to keep the tradition alive amongst youngsters Rekha Prasad
Photo: Murali Kumar K.
MAGNETIC KANCHIPURAM Rekha Prasad gets her designer saris to fly across the seas Photo: Murali Kumar K.
What do south Indians in the U.S. do when they want traditional silk saris for their daughter's wedding or the mother's 60th birthday? Logon to the net and order online for a Kanchipuram at Classic Silks from their catalogue — that seems to be a preferred solution. Or ask its owner, Rekha Prasad, to design and get them one in the twinkling of an eye.
An enterprising investment banker in New Jersey, Rekha started Classic Silks with a passion for the gorgeous rustling silks. She's crunching numbers from seven to seven, before working on her saris till late into the night. In fact a lot of her orders come in at night.
Living in the U.S. for the last four years, she discovered that South Indian silk saris were under-represented at Indian stores in the U.S. "Most stores didn't have access to a source or didn't have the expertise to tell if the sari they sourced was a genuine Kanchipuram." And she didn't like the idea that this silken splendour would be lost to an entire generation.
A friend from Andhra Pradesh living in the U.S. once called Rekha frantically asking her if she could get her the traditional while silk sari with red border for her daughter's wedding that was finalised in a rush. Rekha had seven days to go. But she made sure the sari was couriered to her in three. "Even her relatives in India wouldn't have been able to manage that," says Rekha, visibly proud of her network.
Her network consists of cousins in Chennai. While both — Aarti and Mala — are full-time professionals, they also pitch in with a passion for the six-yard beauties. They get in touch with the weavers in Kanchi and get saris made to specification. "Very often women who come from the U.S. won't find the kind of saris we get made, even if they looked for them here," claims Rekha. "We add value by selecting the right ones." She also selects colour combinations and designs and has them made if her clients approve.
Last year she sold over 200 saris online, and the number just keeps growing. "I started Classic Silks when the Internet boom began... when I realised I didn't need a store to sell saris," says Rekha. She doesn't look upon this as a business. "I don't do it for a profit. It's my passion and I do it as a community service — to make these saris available when they are needed most."
The fact that a lot of cross-cultural marriages are the trend, with Indians marrying Americans, the weddings are held within the U.S., and saris are needed not just for the bride but even the American mother-in-law! In such cases, Rekha also makes sure that blouse measurements are emailed, and the sari is shipped with a stitched matching blouse to boot!
Her clients also include Indians who buy them as gifts before landing in India for a friend's or relative's wedding. Moreover, with new customs catching up in traditional weddings, she sometimes gets requests to make colour-coordinated sari-blouse sets for four bridesmaids!
Apart from the large south Indian community snapping up her saris, there is a large chunk of the Maharashtrian and Gujarati community who form her clientele.
She has also branched out into dupattas so that the younger generation would at least wear them with their salwar-kameez for formal occasions or over evening dresses and skirts as stoles.
Kanchipuram zari borders are stitched on to pashmina and other woollen shawls to form stoles and to be worn through winter over thick coats. Special looms were set up in Kanchi to get the dupattas woven directly — not stripped off saris! Bharatanatya costumes are also in demand. So Rekha checks with clients the colour and style they prefer and has the sari selected and dance costume tailored in Chennai.
A number of people want bags and cloth purses to go with their grand wedding sari ensemble. So Rekha started getting matching bags made for one-time use — these are sold between $15 and $20. The innovative lady uses traditional dance jewellery as clasps and decorations on these bags.
"Money is never an issue for people who want these saris. In fact, saris in the lower range don't sell much," she says.
Her bridal collection is priced between Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 30,000 ($400 to $700). To get the sari to the U.S. in a day's time by air courier is an additional Rs. 300. She's also started stocking backless cholis that can be adjusted with strings across sizes and fits. She's also done some Kanchipuram spaghetti blouses to wear under formal business suits to add a dash of colour.
Furniture stores are now showing interest to have Kanchipuram saris double as throws and rugs. Rekha has also had orders from Canada and France. And in an ironic reversal, many Indians living in the U.K. also have made requests to deliver her saris to their relatives in India!
You can view her collection on www.classicsilks.com
BHUMIKA K.
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