Tapestry art has always been integral to the handcraft legacy of princely India. A congregation of rare embroideries, these tapestries were traditionally used for costume enhancement of the royals and for creating large chattars, wall hangings and tents for the palace. Tales of love’s enchantment, an ode to the rich flora and fauna that marked the palace gardens, imagery of Gods and Goddesses and linear, architectural lines. Rendered in beads, gold threads, a generous use of vintage techniques, these tapestries have inspired generations of Indians.
Cut to today and the world of tapestry design is in the hands of a maverick genius, a designer who belongs to Kolhapure and today is treating many Maratha royals to her divine designs. Shradha Akka Nikam is a tapestry artist, fashion designer, costume restorer, royal furnishing creator and an art aficionado who can magically bring any surface alive. “While the techniques applied are purist, their interpretation is young, happy and different. Why should the bride weight herself down with paisleys and flowers that she does not identify with in her real life?”
Shradha uses the ancient hand techniques of zardoz, dabka, beadwork and Parsi gara to create embroideries of rare chutzpah. Her bridal lehengas even featuring everyday loves of the bride like a mobile phone, a lipstick, a scissor, and a dresser all created out of the finest of embroideries. Her creations have the right fusion of beauty and fashion and a rich rendering of vintage charm.
I met her at her gorgeous home in New Delhi. I was invited to witness her stunning Ganesh puja. Full of very endearing touches, the puja culminated in the most scrumptiously rich puja food you can ever hope to devour on a Maratha table; Shradha had us stumped out of our food coma when she walked us to her basement where khaddis after khaddis of embroidery in progress left us numb with love.
Shradha Nikam’s ancestral roots lie in the Nikams who are descendants of Suryavanshi king Nikumbh and his successors Nikumbh Rajputs. Born and raised between Kolhapure and Mumbai and married to a brilliant art director, Saurabh Chaddha, Shradha keeps her roots in the Maratha world alive. Close to the Chhatrapati Shivaji’s ancestral family in Kolhapur, she has a great patron in Yuvrani Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati, as well as Her Highness Maharani Radhika Raje Gaekwad of Baroda. The latter also inviting her to re-upholster the ceremonial thrones in the Lakshmi Vilas Palace, Baroda. “The Maratha royals are fiercely proud of their lineage, their rituals and their style of traditional dressing. When icons like these endorse my design I do feel truly humbled.”
Shradha possesses a talent in creating a unique fusion of fine textures, vibrant colours, cutting-edge silhouettes and bold, life-like embroideries: All in tune with the contemporary styling of the modern era enhanced by evergreen old-world charm. A fusion that created ripples in the fashion industry, Nikam launched her own label through a mega-fashion show model. Today, the city that booms with fashion witnesses her set up that creates delightful surprises as she closely works with her team to bring out the most exquisite embroidery designs that brides fall in love with.
Creating chiffon saris with her vintage borders in luscious colours, she also does immense drama with her blouses that sometimes make a bigger statement than the solid-coloured sari itself. Shradha’s bridal ensembles work on the interplay of fit and volume, her signature lehenga sometimes featuring her famed 90 kalis, all rendered in the most beautiful and textural raw silk. But the most stunning of all is when she handpicks the finest chintz prints and florals in soft muslins creating tiny pinafores for her beautiful daughters. Or when she fills her room with the most endearing upholstery in stark white embroidered tapestry.