Taatini showcasing for the first time in Chennai
Weddings and Marigold Studio : Taatini showcasing for the first time in Chennai their latest exclusive collection, ‘The Mithinga Collection’ by designers Preeti Bhutani and Moumi Moola from 10.30am to 7pm on Friday and Saturday, November 29th and 30th, 2019 at Weddings and Studio, Manorama, 18/12, Lakshmanan street, T. Nagar, Chennai 600017, Ph : 28151700.
‘Taatini’ works with the Bodo, Mising and Rabha tribes of Assam; Kasuti artists from Hubli and weavers from a village near Varanasi. Taatini has created a range of natural dyes from a long list of natural sources, onion skin, jackfruit bark, turmeric, pomegranate and, of course, indigo. Taatini also uses azo-free dyes for some of their mulberry silk sarees. The carbon footprint of the yarns used in a Taatini garment is minimal. The yarn is both sustainable and organic.
Taatini is the result of a challenging journey. Taatini, which means ‘river’ in Sanskrit, has arrived at the point where it can actually showcase a piece of hand-crafted artisanal beauty, after journeying like a river, through the mountains and crevasses of design, tribal knowledge, appreciating silk, developing yarn and weaver understanding. This was in pursuit of its goal of giving you a unique garment, while reviving tribal motifs and sustaining the traditional craft of weaving.
The founders of Taatini, sisters, Preeti Bhutani and Moumi Moola, have spent four years exploring weaving hubs as far apart as Hubli and Lakhimpur, Guwahati and Benares. They thoroughly researched and understood silk, so that the yarn in a Taatini is unique and irreplaceable. Just as women are proud to claim that they own a ‘Banaras’ or a ‘Paithani’ you can be proud to own a ‘Taatini.’
Taatini first choice of silk is ‘Eri,’ silk. This is a creamy white silk, indigenous to the northeast of India. It is also known as a ‘peace’ silk because only Eri is spun from the cocoon of the silkworm without destroying the worm. Another kind of silk Taatini uses is ‘Muga,’ the only naturally gold silk thread, that is also found solely in Assam. Muga is a temperamental wild silk. The moths are susceptible to infections which effect the amount of Muga available. This silk is truly an Heirloom. It is common to find women wearing the silk that they inherited from their great grandmother.
Preeti Bhutani: Co-founder and designer; has a Masters from the U.K in textile design. She used to design for Zara Home, among other brands, before going on to designing hand woven stoles and sarees.
Moumi Moola: Co-founder; a psychology honours graduate is an entrepreneur. She has worked with foundations for urban poor communities, and is involved with various social and civic issues.
