The cluster · Tamil Nadu, India
Kanchipuram
The temple-town weavers of Kanchipuram pull silk threads of three different weights into a single saree — body, border, and pallu woven separately and joined with a join so fine you have to look for it. The result lasts a generation, often three.
Kanjivaram silk is heavier than Banarasi. The silk thread is thicker; the zari is gold-plated silver woven directly into the body, not embroidered on; and the join between body and contrast pallu — called the korvai — is done thread by thread, by hand, with such precision that the seam is invisible to the eye.
A real Kanjivaram is heavy enough that you feel it on the shoulder when you drape it. It is also durable enough to outlast the bride who first wears it. Our customers' mothers, sometimes grandmothers, have Kanjivarams from their own weddings that they recut for daughters' receptions thirty and forty years later.
Our cluster is in the temple-town of Kanchipuram, in Tamil Nadu. They weave on traditional pit looms, by hand, three weavers per loom for the most complex bridal pieces. Lead times can extend to twelve weeks for the most heavy bridal commissions. We do not rush them.
400+
Years Kanchipuram has been weaving silk
3
Weavers per loom on bridal pieces
12
Weeks for the heaviest commissions
3+
Generations a real Kanjivaram lasts