Hand-stitched, heritage-heavy, and having a moment—the Parsi Gara is a labour of love

Few textile traditions carry stories of myths and provenance quite like the Parsi Gara, catapulted into the limelight by Natasha Poonawalla at the recently concluded Met Gala. The socialite philanthropist wore a custom ensemble by designer Manish Malhotra, crafted from two vintage Parsi Gara saris. In an age of fast fashion and AI, this pop culture moment was a nod to the meticulous, centuries-old art of fine hand-embroidery and the Parsi commitment to preserving precious textiles and artefacts.

A quick history lesson first: The Parsis, followers of the seventh-century BC Prophet Zarathushtra, were forced to leave Iran in the tenth century due to religious persecution and sail to India. They first arrived in Gujarat and eventually settled along the west coast. The Parsi Gara, thus, eventually came to be shaped by a cross-cultural eye, born from the community’s trade routes and stitched together with influences from Europe, Persia, China, and India. Although the term Parsi Gara eventually came to be associated exclusively with the sari, the same aesthetic was traditionally used to decorate clothing items such as ijars (trousers), jhablas (children’s tunics), sapats (flat footwear), purses and potlis (drawstring pouches), and home furnishings.

Painting with needle & thread

The recurring visual vocabulary of Parsi Gara embroidery shows a deep reverence for nature, which is also one of the main tenets of Zoroastrianism. Flowers, birds and animals are celebrated as emblems of power and protection. Recurring floral motifs in the Parsi Gara repertoire include peonies, roses, chrysanthemums, lotuses, rendered as vines, trellises and abundant gardens.

A mix of real and fantastical creatures also adorn Parsi Garas, including butterflies, birds of paradise, cranes, phoenixes, peacocks, fish, bats, dragons, and the divine fungus. As the Gara began acquiring more Indian influences, the Parsis started giving the motifs quaint Gujarati names like kanda papeta (onions and potatoes to symbolise polka dots), karolia (spider motifs), marga marghi (rooster and hen motifs), and cheena cheeni (Chinese man and woman).

The artisans who hand embroider the Gara are required to have a deep understanding of the nuances of the Parsi Gara craft. For instance, when birds are embroidered, the rendering needs to be realistic, including details like the movement of the feathers, the shape of the beak, the patina of the eye. Artisans, therefore, are trained to observe nature to be able to bring to life the essence of the motif they are embroidering by mixing colours and using shading, not unlike an impressionist painter. Having worked with many of our master craftspeople over the years, I've observed how our process has turned into an exchange of ideas and inputs, rather than mere instruction.

An ongoing personal journey

Being a Parsi, the Gara has enamoured me since my childhood. My earliest memory of it was my mother’s black Gara—a family heirloom embroidered by my father's grandmother. After graduating from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, I travelled across India, China and Iran with the UNESCO Parzor foundation documenting the Gara. There, I had the opportunity to interact with people’s personal collections in these regions. In 2013, I launched my eponymous label.

As a contemporary revivalist brand, it has been our ongoing mission to push the Parsi Gara in new directions and engage with younger generations of Parsis and non-Parsi wearers. Specifically, this translates as stylised application of motifs, a modern, fine-tuned colour palette, and the use of lighter, more wearable fabric adapted to suit contemporary tastes. We have also opened up the embroidery applications, placing them on lehengas, blouses, jackets, scarves, and accessories to enhance their wearability. To us, it’s essential that the soul of the Parsi Gara remains intact, whether we’re realising it as a print series or in collaboration with textile traditions such as Bandhani from Gujarat, Kanjivaram from Tamil Nadu or Banarasi from Uttar Pradesh. We see ourselves as the modern custodians of this aesthetic and the stories that bring it alive.

The recent years have seen a resurgence in the appreciation of traditional textiles and techniques among wearers across India and overseas. There’s a growing awareness and love for the Parsi Gara among textile and sari enthusiasts across generations. With celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Madhuri Dixit Nene, and many others wearing it in cover stories of prominent magazines as well as when they're out and about, the curiosity around this niche craft is piqued. It can be argued that the Parsi Gara has entered a new era flagged off by Natasha Poonawalla’s recent red carpet appearance. I hope this conversation and interest continue to grow, and we’re excited to be at the forefront of it all.

Images: Ashdeen Lilaowala

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