Types of Embroidery Designs & How to Use Them in Fashion Designing!

The world is a diverse place of various religions and beautiful cultures. The diversity of the world and its cultures is depicted in form of stories, folklore, dance, and arts. South Asian subcontinent, which comprises India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is one of the most amazing melting pots of endless cultures and religions. The region is known to host one of the oldest and greatest human civilizations and biggest empires. From the pre-historic Vedic culture to Buddhism, Persian, and Islamic culture, the subcontinent has remained the epitome of human civilizations for thousands of years.

With such a rich and complex history, the art of the subcontinent region is also unique and multi-faceted. The various cultures that inhabit the south Asian subcontinent have their unique sub-cultures that are defined by music, folklore, and art.

Here in this blog, we will exclusively discuss the various types of embroidery designs and their use in fashion designing from the various parts of the South Asian Subcontinent. These exclusive hand embroidery types come with the richness of cultural heritage that spans centuries.

So, without wasting time, let’s move on and see some of the fascinating types of hand embroidery and their use in fashion design from the South Asian Subcontinent region!

Top Hand Embroidery Designs Used in the South Asian Subcontinent Region!

As we mentioned in the above section, South Asia has been a melting pot of cultures and religions since a very early age. Over the centuries, the diversity of the region nurtured complex and unique cultures and nothing represents the regional sub-cultures of the South Asian region more than the intricate hand-embroidered designs.

Hand embroidery designs have been loved and adored in the region for centuries. From the noble Kings to the royal women and even commoners, everyone cherished exquisite hand embroidery designs. The excessive obsession of the population with embroidery designs also saw the rise of some of the best embroidery artisans who invented/merge/refine the embroidery techniques to create breathtaking embroidery designs. In fact, traditional embroidery of the region has made its way to the corporate world as well, where businesses leverage easy access to services like logo digitizing and embroidery fashion designs for their commercial interests.

Let’s review some of the most popular types of embroidery designs in the South Asian Subcontinent region!

Chikankari

We are starting with an embroidery fashion design that brings centuries of history in creation. Chinakari is a popular embroidery fashion design that traces its roots in Lucknow. The art is believed to be introduced by none other than Nur-Jehan – the Mughal wife of Emperor Jahangir. The embroidery fashion design was extensively used to create majestic and noble garments for the Mughals and other royal families.

Chikankari uses the block printing technique to create design patterns on the fabric. Once the pattern is printed on the fabric, master artisans start to stitch the pattern to give it a precise finish. The final design output is washed to remove any leftover traces of printing. During the early days of Chikankari embroidery, the process was only completed for white-on-white embroidery designs. However, today the popular embroidery process is practiced using all sorts of colors and fabrics.

Kantha

Kantha is yet another highly popular and widely practiced embroidery design practice that traces its origin to Odisha and Bengal. Unlike some of the other embroidery fashion designs in the list that started as Royal Processes, Kantha was created by rural women to create embroidery designs on sarees or soft dhotis.

The process of Kantha embroidery involves simple running stitches at the edge of the fabric. The use of border thread is perhaps the most interesting part of Kantha embroidery since most of the time the thread is sourced from some used cloth.

Traditionally, various motifs are used to create Kantha embroidery including, flora and fauna from everyday rural lives. The Kantha format involves running stitches with short gaps. The art today is used to create a host of design items including blankets, bed sheets, wall hangings, and many others.

Phulkari

Phulkari traces its origin to the fertile plains of Punjab – the land of five rivers. Just like the colorful and rich culture of sarso da saag and Makki di roti, Phulkari embroidery design involves rich detailing and extravagant use of colors. In fact, the word “Phulkari” is derived from “Phul” which means flowers, which clearly highlights the vividness and vibrancy of the embroidery design. The art is frequently used in Punjab and other parts of the Subcontinent to create exquisite flower motifs.

Back in the day, art was practiced by the women in rural parts of Punjab as a pass time hobby. However, over centuries it became a new type of embroidery design. The process involved embroidering the design on the back of the fabric (usually flower motifs), which is transparent from the front side as well. Subsequently, the front side is embroidered using various types and colors of threads.

Zardosi

Zardosi is an intricate embroidery fashion design technique that originated in the land of Persia. Just like the ancient Persian culture, Zardosi comes with centuries of history and richness. Back in the day, the technique uses exotic gold and silver wires to create enchanting embroidery for Mughal Rulers and other Royal Families of the region. To further add to the intricacy and exquisiteness of the embroidery, the gold and silver embroidery was decorated with pearls and gemstones that simply give a majestic appearance to the wearer.

Even the fabric used back in the day was manufactured using the highest quality material that suits the persona and nobility of royal families. However, today copper wires and silk threads are commonly used to create Zardosi embroidery designs, which has made the art accessible to less affluent people as well.

Kashidakari

Lastly, we have yet another super-intricate and exquisite embroidery technique – Kashidakari. The technique which is also called Kashmiri embroidery traces its root to the rich culture of the high snowy mountainous valleys of Kashmir.

While Kashidakari was introduced in Kashmir, the technique was involved greatly under the patronage of Persian and Mughal rule. According to some historians, a Persian Sufi Saint was responsible to introduce the embroidery fashion design technique to Kashmir. The technique was taken as pass time hobby during the long hard cold winter of Kashmir, however, soon it evolved into a majestic art form that represents the intricate culture of Kashmir.