Swati & Sunaina bring Versailles to the modern Indian bridal wardrobe

It isn't every day that a discarded fragment of Rococo fabric found in a Paris flea market bin ends up inspiring a single-edition Banarasi sari. But then there is nothing ordinary about Swati & Sunaina Gold's latest collection Varanasi to Versailles.

A six-year labour of love, the collection explores an unlikely dialogue between French and Indian decorative traditions reimagined through centuries-old Banarasi weaving techniques. Bringing together everything from Louis XIV's bedchamber brocades to the scallops from Queen Marie-Antoinette's gown—the result is a series of saris and lehengas (each with their own name, story and authenticity certificate) that feel at once historic yet strikingly beautiful and relevant.

These limited-edition saris are as wearable as they are worthy of collecting, it’s no surprise that each piece from this collection has found its way into a coffee-table book by the designers. The pieces here are made for anyone who values craftsmanship, storytelling and pieces designed to be cherished long after the wedding festivities are over. In conversation with co-founder and designer, Swati Agarwal, we discuss the research, artistry and serendipitous discoveries behind the collection and why modern brides are gravitating towards meaningful heirlooms over fleeting trends:

Why Varanasi to Versailles?

I have always been intrigued by old textile cultures from the Persians to the Parisiens. We wanted to explore something that wasn’t explored yet. We have dived deep into Indian textiles and for us the next natural step was to study and start a cross-cultural dialogue with another textile history, from another part of the world. 15 days before the pandemic locked us down, I made my first research trip to Paris. It's the most intensive collection we've made so far and the most ambitious, if you ask me. It’s been an almost six-year long process.

You draw from three centuries of French textiles and re-interpret that into Banarasi weaves. How did you keep the integrity of both intact?

French textiles and crafts are a completely different design language from ours. Our research took us to museums, flea markets, libraries and into textile archives, over many trips and exchanges. But it was the Palace of Versailles that became our core inspiration. It was living heritage all in one place to see. In fact, the star of the collection, the Zeenat grand gold lehenga was inspired by the brocade from Louis XIV's chamber.

Through the collection we wanted to create a true dialogue between France and India. Take for instance, the Illusion and Moksha saris, these translate French lace into a zari woven format. In the sari, Rosette, we used tissue, but in a very delicate form so it looks like a roll of ribbons with little posies at the bottom. We’ve brought everything from French brocade-style called Bizarre and Chantilly lace to scallops and bows into Indian hand-weaving techniques such as Kadhuwa, Jamdaani, Rangkaat, Gyasar, Tanchoi and Dampach.

Do you have a favourite from this collection?

Without a doubt the Koniya sari! It’s crazy and serendipitous how this came about. We found this antique fabric fragment lying in a flea market bin. It was in the Rococo style and absolutely stunning. The minute the store owner saw our interest in this discarded piece, he bumped the price up, of course, but it was so worth it.

We sat down at the drawing table with this tiny strip and imagined and sketched out the rest of it. We played with the European interpretation of the Koniya with two stylised floral bouquets brocaded at the two corners of the pallu of the sari, also referencing Varanasi's Ganga-Jamuni.

How do you balance wearability with craft and heritage?

Each Swati and Sunaina Gold piece is unique and hand crafted. It is definitely not for the everyday, but we make contemporary heritage pieces for special occasions. Be it weddings, anniversaries or any other big celebration. Occasion wear should not be heavy, stiff and uncomfortable. It needs to be wearable and most importantly, as re-wearable as possible.

This comes from two main elements behind how we make each piece. One is the design itself—it must look and feel right. Motifs are placed correctly, the fall and drape need to be perfect, and so on. Second is that we do not touch even slightly inferior quality materials. When you're using the finest of silks to the purest of Zari, the sari or lehenga immediately becomes lighter, softer, and easier to drape and wear. Zari is a great example of quality lending itself to wearability. Silver is soft, and we use 98.5% silver Zari electroplated with gold, which is rare today. The more commonly used and impure Zari has more copper in it, which makes it much heavier, harder—and basically, unwearable.

How are the Swati and Sunaina brides exploring their relationship with craft and heritage, while making it theirs?

Recently, we had a bride commission us to make her bridal sari. She sent me an entire PDF with her story and her ideas. She and her partner decided to get married after dating for just about three months. Obviously, the families on both sides were quite sceptical. But she told me that she had had two big breakups and they’d taught her exactly what she didn’t want. And she then said this about her to-be husband, “I just know he's the one, it’s written in the stars.”

And that became the theme of her bridal sari. We wove a sari for her which had "written in the stars" hidden in the weave. She also gave us signs and symbols that meant something to her and her groom—sun signs, lucky numbers, important dates and what not. She actually went on to even make a lovely book on the sari. This remains one of my favourite collaborations that we’ve ever done.

How do you see your collections fitting into the modern bridal wardrobe?

My son got married a few years ago. And my daughter-in-law scoured the market and just didn’t like how heavy and uncomfortable most of bridal wear is today. She finally wore a lehenga we made for her for the wedding, and a gorgeous Gara lehenga from Patine for the next day. She wanted pieces that meant something to her and that she would re-wear.

Brides today make evolved and informed decisions, especially the younger millennial and Gen Z brides. Brides want that one pure textile and craft piece to call their own. They want longevity and an emotional connection with what they wear and they’re looking for pieces that mean something. And this is where we come in.

Each of your saris comes with documentation on the artisan, the hours, the crafts and so on. 

You know I was lucky to inherit these gorgeous saris from my mother, mother-in-law and even my grandmothers. My relationship with saris is sentimental, but once I started working with weavers and saw exactly what goes into the making of a handwoven sari—that knowledge only deepened my love. It’s what I responded to, and we wanted to share that knowledge and feeling with our clients too. 

So, every single Swati and Sunaina piece comes with a document capturing the design inspiration, the weaves and crafts employed, the names of the artisans who made it, the number of hours it took, along with the USP of the sari and other technical details. All our saris are part of India’s textile tradition, and we want our clients to know and understand that.