ShareThisBy CORI HOWARD
Toronto Globe and Mail
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
On a sunny Sunday, sari designer Jitinder Wirk is wrapping her cousin in five meters of burnt-orange crepe.
The silky material loops around and around Navi Gill's tiny waist, the border of silver embroidery and beadwork clicking on the floor. She stops wrapping when the beads stop, pleats the fabric, tucks it in and throws the remaining material over Gill's bare shoulder.
It's not easy to wrap a sari, but Wirk is a pro. Lately, with more young women returning to the traditional garb, she hasn't been able to keep up with the demand for her saris.
"The sari is definitely making a comeback with young girls," says Wirk, who opened her store, Mehar, in this Vancouver suburb three years ago.
For decades, young Indo-Canadian women shed their saris and tried to be as Western as they could. Now, they are following the lead of the East, looking to Bollywood rather than Hollywood, turning the tide on who makes their fashion decisions.
"When I was growing up, saris were worn by women getting married and older," Wirk says. "Now, teenagers are wanting and embracing saris."
At Inder Jandoo's Toronto store, Sonu Saree Palace, between 30 and 40 per cent of the clientele are teenage girls.
"People are getting back to their roots, trying to get back into Indian fashion," Jandoo says.
For many young girls, the saris he sells for $50 to $500 represent glamour and romance, thanks to Bollywood movies. Those films "show all the beautiful girls and handsome boys," Jandoo says. Saris and romance "go hand in hand."
At Mehar in Surrey, Gill says she's choosing to wear the sari in part because of its cultural significance. "It makes me feel in touch with my culture and my femininity," says the 20-year-old, who works at a nearby restaurant. "It makes me feel like more of a woman."
A few decades ago, when the Indo-Canadian population was still very small, women faced pressure from within the community to trade in their saris in favor of Western styles, says Hugh Johnston, a retired history professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., and author of two books on the Indo-Canadian community.
The sari is also gaining ground among young women in India and Pakistan, where Bollywood and television stars have helped make the outfit stylish.
Hollywood celebrities like Elizabeth Hurley and Jennifer Lopez have also been spotted wearing saris in recent months. Hurley wore hers _ an $8,000 diamond-encrusted version _ for her wedding to Indian entrepreneur Arun Nayar in March.
Davi Bains-Gill, who runs the Armaan sari boutique in Surrey, B.C., says she has always loved the sari for its elegance. Travelling back and forth to India, she has watched the influence of Bollywood on young girls in Canada in recent years.
These latest converts covet saris very different from the ones worn by their mothers and grandmothers. The new saris boast a Western twist: spaghetti straps on the halter top, side slits on the skirt, and backless tops.
"I like mixing the two cultures, but still keeping it traditional," says Wirk, showing off an original design: a brilliant turquoise sari with a lace-up blouse. "I designed another top to go under the sari after seeing something Halle Berry was wearing in a magazine. I took the cut of her blouse and added embroidery."
Yet the sari is still not everyday wear. Most girls only wear them to formal functions.
"It's still not seen as a practical garment for young people," says Pushpanjli Matharoo, a 60-year-old sari expert.
