Where our sarees come from: five weaving clusters

Handloom is regional in the way food is regional. A weave belongs to a place because the yarn, the water, the loom and the hands all came from there.

Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu

Mulberry silk, heavy zari, korvai borders. The looms here are built for weight.

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Brocade. Kadhwa and fekua techniques, mughal-influenced motifs, and the densest zari work in India.

Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh

Sheer cotton-silk. The yarn is never degummed, which is where the glassy transparency comes from.

Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh

Reversible borders, narrow stripes, cotton warp with a silk weft.

Phulia, West Bengal

Jamdani in fine-count cotton, woven by families who moved from Tangail after 1947.

Why the middle matters

A saree usually passes through a master weaver, a trader, a wholesaler and a retailer. Each takes a cut, and the weaver - who did the work that takes three weeks - takes the smallest. Buying closer to the loom changes that split, which is the entire reason we do it.