When Chikankari wowed Hollywood!

Nur Jehan who is popularly believed to have
introduced Chikankari in India

There are references to the Indian Chikankari work as early as 3rd Century BC by Meghasthenes (he was an Indian ethnographer and explorer), who mentioned the use of flower muslins by Indians. Many historians believe that there were travelers who taught chikan to the peasants in return of water to drink. However, the most popular story is that Nur Jehan, the wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir, brought chikankari embroidery work with her from Persia and also taught the embroidery work to her servants. 

The technique of creation of a chikan work is known as chikankari. Chikan is a delicate and artfully done hand embroidery on a variety of textile fabric like muslin, silk, chiffon and net. White thread is embroidered on cool, pastel shades of light muslin and cotton garments. Nowadays chikan embroidery is also done with colored and silk threads in colors to meet the fashion trends and keep chikankari up-to-date. Lucknow is the heart of the chikankari industry today and the variety is known as Lucknawi chikan.
Chikan embroidery is mostly done on fabrics like cotton, semi-Georgette, pure Georgette, crepe, chiffon, silk and any other fabric which is light and which highlights the embroidery. The fabric cannot be too thick or hard, else the embroidery needle won't pierce it.

In today's day designers like AbuJani and Sandeep Khosla completely revived this timeless art form over a decade ago. They improvised chikankari  combined with mirror work, zardozi and several other art works infused a new life in it. From Dame Judi Dench to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan every other Hollywood and bollywood celebrities are flaunting chikan ensembles by Abu jani and Sandeep khosla on various international platforms and film festivals.

Lucknow Chikan worn by Dame Judi Dench At Academy Awards in 2006