Exploring Andhra Pradesh for SS12 took us to Koyyalegudem, a small village about 40 km from Hyderabad and famed for it’s ikkat work.

Ikkat is an intricate weaving technique where individual bundles of thread are first tied and then resistance-dyed to form varied patterns. These dyed threads are then stretched out on a loom and carefully adjusted so as to make the final desired pattern visible to the weaver. They are then finally woven into cloth.

Some families even practice a form of double ikkat where the threads stretched on the loom as well as those inserted over and under them are dyed in different patterns. The finished fabric bears a combination of the patterns on these two sets of threads. The amount of skill and generations of accumulated learning that goes into ikkat weaving is truly amazing.

We played a lot with ikkat for SS12 and can’t wait to share the final results!