Silk, the queen of textiles dominates the textile industry with its lustre, sensuousness and glamour. The history of silk goes back to 4,500 years. India is the second largest producer of silk, contributing to about 18 per cent of the world production. It will be interesting to mention who is the first one.

Today, silk weaving tradition in India revolves around the sari, the ethnic traditional wear that is worn in most parts of the country. The Indians dress themselves in elaborate and colourful silk sarees on festive occasions. The vibrant colours, light weight, resilience and excellent drape etc. have made silk sarees, the irresistible and unavoidable companion of Indian women. Indian silk is popular all over the world with its variety of designs, weaves and patterns.

Saree is essentially a drape. A long, unstitched, decorated drape. This gives it a lot of potential to work with. Which ever way one drapes it, it works. This also gives designers a lot of freedom and creative potential to explore. The wearer also can have different looks with the same piece of garment. Thus, though the Saree has been around for centuries, its ways and styles have changed and evolved to suit the current styles, and it continues to evolve and change, without changing the basic elegance and feminine delicacy of the drape.

Sarees are not like other outfits. Thousands of years of Indian tradition is woven into sarees. That is why, it is hard for us to think about sarees in terms of brands. However, branded Indian sarees are now on the rise. Earlier, people bought sarees from select shops or directly from the weavers. But now, branded Indian sarees dominate the fashion scene.