New Delhi, Dec 21 (KNN) Banaras, prominently known for its beautiful and magnificent silk, was facing a serious downfall in the popularity of the fabric. Conversely, there has been encountered an upliftment in the acceptance and status of Banarasi silk as some of the high profile celebs, designers, and proficient personalities have roped in to promote the fabric.
 
The recent decades have seen a tremendous fall in the sale of the popular fabric. The fall was accompanied by a significant rise the prices. Banarasi sarees, which were highly popular among the Indian women, as well as the women abroad , were losing their interest in the same, cost being one of the main reasons.
 
Many manufacturers were clearly able to recognise the reason behind the observed trend. “The cloth is expensive because of its production process,” said Shahid Ansari of Kasim Silk Emporium, a silk manufacturing and exporting unit based in Banaras.
 
“Manufacturing of silk sarees completely involves manual labour. The handloom silk does not undertake the assistance of any kind of technology, thus making the manual labour expensive. Also, the high quality yarn that we import from China and Bangalore costs us a lot, thereby , resulting in high cost of the material” Ansari told us.
 
However, the manufacturers holds the believe that the material hasn’t lost it relevance and stand in the textile industry. Many have asserted that no change has been encountered in their figures. “I completely discourage the fact that Banarasi silk has lost its popularity in the market. We still have high demand in the market, though the numbers of workers in the manufacturing set-ups have declined due to the immense labour work involved,” Ansari said.
 
Kasim Emporium holds more than 20 artists in its factory where the beautiful silk embroidered sarees are created.
 
Many have attributed the credit for the upliftment in silk popularity to the high-profile individuals putting their efforts in promotion of Banarasi silk sarees.  Dhiraj Gupta of Gupta Internationals admitted the fact that the market for Banarasi silk had shown dip down. However, he further asserted the celeb-association to the silk has proved to be an aid in silk regaining its popularity majorly amongst the youth.
 
“The recent visit of US President Barrack Obama Along with his wife Michelle to Banaras proved to put a huge impact on the perception of Banarasi sarees among the youth,” Dheeraj told KNN.
 
“PM gifting a silk saree to the First Lady of US gained quite some attention among the public. The fact that NRIs these days are purchasing Banarasi silk in bulk has created quite a curiosity among the youth leading to silk’s revival in the textile industry,” he added.

Furthermore, appreciable amount of support from the established designers like Ritu Kumar, Abhishek Gupta, Malini Ramani and Sabyasachi have had a huge impact. The designers promoted the proficient Banarasi silk and karigiri through the significant incorporation and usage of the fabric in their fashion shows. (KNN/ Jyoti)