Finely handwoven in shimmering colours, these stunning scarves define 21st century elegance for men and women. Add this soft touch of luxe to a smart work outfit or wrap around for evening gleam.
Saraswati, goddess of learning and the creative arts, represents free-flowing wisdom. Hidden in the ancient alleys of Varanasi, renowned for its culture, religion and splendid silks is a small workshop handlooming Saraswati scarves, continuing an age-old tradition.
By clever reinvention of a disappearing weave, each Saraswati scarf glimmers in two distinctive tones. With more than a dozen colourways, Saraswati silks offer endless possibilities.
In this small Buddhist country where only rivers connect many communities, the tradition of handweaving local silk is passed from grandmother to mother and daughter. They use the wooden loom still kept beneath traditional stilt houses in rural Laos. The rim of old bicycle wheel might make up the spinning wheel.
Careful mixes of plants, fruits and bark create lustrous shades. Choose from four charming designs: elephants, raindrops, stripes or perfectly plain. Depending on the design, a Guanyin scarf takes from three days to a week to weave. A treasure to own and a pleasure to wear.
Gossamer-fine pashmina from Ladakh, the Buddhist land in the Indian Himalayas. Tuck into winter wear or drape loosely on a summer eve for that elusive but unmistakable laid-back luxe!
Apsaras, Buddhist celestial beings, are portrayed by artists as sylvan flying figures; described by the ancients as 'woven air', our incredibly soft, light and warm pashmina won't disappoint. Each a generous two-metres long, their gentle touch and fine weave has to be experienced to be believed.
The pride of Ladakh, these airy scarves are handwoven from the superfine hairs - pashm - of the Changra goat, which inhabits the high, harsh reaches of this ruggedly beautiful land.
From the idyllic Kullu Valley, in the Indian Himalayas, come ebullient Tara scarves: sleek, capacious and characterful. Handwoven in black, grey-brown, cream and fawn, each is decorated with a panel of geometric motifs and finished with a contrasting border.
Tara scarves embody the long tradition of handlooming in the Kullu Valley, with patterns inspired by the mountains and handed down through generations.
Be bold and beautiful in a Tara scarf - like the Buddhist goddess herself! (Tara, a well-known goddess in the Hindu and Buddhist pantheons, is know for her ebullience and strong will, among other attributes).
Cut a dash in a striking Rupini shawl - a brilliant combination of skilled handweaving and traditional design, whose geometrics chime with to modern aesthetics.
Inspired by the stunning Kullu Valley in the Indian Himalayas, each Rupini shawl, a generous two metres, stands out from the crowd. Choose from four bold colours - black, red, off-white and grey - featuring a vibrant panel of mountain motifs and a contrasting border or twisted tassel.
A Rupini shawl makes an irresistable gift ... if you can bear to part with it yourself!
Chaya shawls offer perfect protection against the elements or simply for relaxing at home. Each is beautifully handloomed from natural, undyed yak wool, softened with merino, by weavers in Himachal Pradesh skilled in guarding against harsh winters.
A family enterprise creates these distinctive shawls, inspired by the revered yak and their mountain culture. Chaya is goddess of shadows: wool is carefully selected for toning colours and contrasting textures, creating two colour medleys: snowy black and earthy shades. Each shawl features a fine decorative panel and contrasting border.
Elephants are clever beasts and none more so than Kala Bo’s! Each magical parade of tiny pachyderms – at least 30 in each scarf – is carefully handwoven using jamdani, a demanding technique revered by India’s Mughal emperors.
With cotton this fine, you can float your very own elephant herd (in miniature of course) around your shoulders, ruffle up or gently wrap, making Kala Bo versatile - and lovely to wear! Handloomed in Bengal from high quality cotton, these wonderfully light and tactile scarves combine comfort, charm and culture – making a delightful gift or desirable wardrobe staple.
Kala Bo is wife to Ganesha, the much-loved elephant god. While not technically a goddess – she’s often depicted as a banana tree – we love the story, the verve of banana plants, not to mention the fruit so beloved of elephants!
There are two charming elephant designs in Kala Bo: solo features many ‘single’ elephants; and polo depicts pairs of elephants playing ball. Both designs come in the same five colours: aqua, blush, dusk, sky and plum – on creamy-white.
Handwoven in pure silk, our limited edition series are created for each season in a few fabulous colourways. There’s never more than six of each colourway and they really do stand out from the crowd.
Intense colour and lustre characterises Shine Deeply, this season's limited edition series. Like all Saraswati Silks – Silk Chassis’ bestselling range - each scarf is two-toned. Each of the four shades here is teamed with black, enabling you to adjust the colour intensity depending on your mood and the occasion. The Shine Deeply colours are remarkably lustrous (a deep sheen, not cheap shine!) because of a special weaving technique that captures light brilliantly.
Cotton
Khadi cotton is fine and lightweight – very different from run-of-the-mill cotton familiar in the UK. That’s a perfect pun: khadi could not further from factory made. It’s handspun and handloomed, native to India and symbolic of Gandhi. He advocated a spinning wheel for each household and famously wore only a simple khadi dhoti, even in chilly London!
The cotton for Kala Bo comes from South India and it is handwoven in Bengal.
Bengal
Silk Chassis’ Kala Bo are woven in a family-run workshop outside Kolkata, where 50 skilled weavers handloom the khadi cotton and ‘figure’, or weave, the jamdani motifs.
Jamdani has a long history in this region, particularly in Dacca, now in Bangladesh, where it developed centuries ago alongside the practice of weaving muslin. > >Muslin is the incredibly fine cotton cloth of Bengal, once woven exclusively for the Mughal emperors, who, like the British in India, recognised the weavers’ extraordinary skills.
The finest muslins could contain nearly 2,000 warp threads (those running the length of the fabric) but remained so sheer and light they were likened to ‘the skin of the moon’ .
In the exquisite paintings of Mughal emperors and their relatives, they are often depicted wearing transparent garments with delicate floral and other motifs – which would have been created by jamdani technique.
Jamdani
It’s an exacting technique, requiring experience and patience. Jamdani motifs are created by extra weft – the threads across the width of the scarf - during handweaving.
Jamdani is centuries old; traditionally weavers were inspired by the natural world around them. The term jamdani comes from Farsi for ‘flowered’ or ‘embossed’, suggesting the technique may have originated in Persia and been transmitted to India, in particular Dacca, which is now in Bangladesh.
Kala Bo’s elephants may look as if embroidered - which would be much easier – but they are entirely handwoven. This accounts for the subtle differences in their depiction – making each scarf unique.
This curious shade – grey or violet depending on your eye – is elegant and flattering to many complexions.
Kala Bo Solo has 32 elephants in rows at both ends of the scarf. In addition, creamy-white elephants dot the coloured expanse of the scarf.
Please note, the close-up – the main image - is the design you will receive. The other two photos depict both Kala Bo Solo and Kala Bo Polo patterns in the same hue.
This curious shade – grey or violet depending on your eye – is elegant and flattering to many complexions.
Kala Bo Solo has 32 elephants in rows at both ends of the scarf. In addition, creamy-white elephants dot the coloured expanse of the scarf.
Please note, the close-up – the main image - is the design you will receive. The other two photos depict both Kala Bo Solo and Kala Bo Polo patterns in the same hue.
Cotton
Khadi cotton is fine and lightweight – very different from run-of-the-mill cotton familiar in the UK. That’s a perfect pun: khadi could not further from factory made. It’s handspun and handloomed, native to India and symbolic of Gandhi. He advocated a spinning wheel for each household and famously wore only a simple khadi dhoti, even in chilly London!
The cotton for Kala Bo comes from South India and it is handwoven in Bengal.
Bengal
Silk Chassis’ Kala Bo are woven in a family-run workshop outside Kolkata, where 50 skilled weavers handloom the khadi cotton and ‘figure’, or weave, the jamdani motifs.
Jamdani has a long history in this region, particularly in Dacca, now in Bangladesh, where it developed centuries ago alongside the practice of weaving muslin. > >Muslin is the incredibly fine cotton cloth of Bengal, once woven exclusively for the Mughal emperors, who, like the British in India, recognised the weavers’ extraordinary skills.
The finest muslins could contain nearly 2,000 warp threads (those running the length of the fabric) but remained so sheer and light they were likened to ‘the skin of the moon’ .
In the exquisite paintings of Mughal emperors and their relatives, they are often depicted wearing transparent garments with delicate floral and other motifs – which would have been created by jamdani technique.
Jamdani
It’s an exacting technique, requiring experience and patience. Jamdani motifs are created by extra weft – the threads across the width of the scarf - during handweaving.
Jamdani is centuries old; traditionally weavers were inspired by the natural world around them. The term jamdani comes from Farsi for ‘flowered’ or ‘embossed’, suggesting the technique may have originated in Persia and been transmitted to India, in particular Dacca, which is now in Bangladesh.
Kala Bo’s elephants may look as if embroidered - which would be much easier – but they are entirely handwoven. This accounts for the subtle differences in their depiction – making each scarf unique.
We find designers, weavers and cooperatives who use hand-and-foot-powered looms and who maintain the traditional textile techniques unique to their region. Using fine natural materials – silk, cotton, pashmina and wool – they create beautiful pieces for us, which take days, sometimes weeks, to craft.
Silk Chassis is inspired by the growing demand from savvy shoppers for excellent quality, to know the provenance of their purchases, and for something very different from high street fare.