Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Here is a one-stop shop for saris

— PHOTO: K. PICHUMANI

Colourful collection: Visitors take a look at the saris at the handloom exhibition in Chennai on Friday.

CHENNAI: Fabric in striking hues and intricate motifs were featured at the handloom exhibition that opened at ‘Vannam’ Co-optex showroom in Perambur on Friday.

Inaugurated by Handlooms Minister N.K.K.P. Raja, the exhibition features an array of cotton saris woven by weavers from across the State, including Paramakudi, Aruppukottai and Thoppur. Customers may choose from various varieties of saris, including printed cotton, silk cotton and chettinad cotton. The exhibition features about 300 new designs produced by the members of weavers service centres in places across the State.

Cotton saris of traditional ‘Kandangi’ design, ‘Kolam’ saris and those with threadwork are worth a special mention. The saris are priced between Rs.350 and Rs.1,000. The exhibition also features a collection of embroidered salwar materials in different colour combinations.

Men may choose from a wide array of clothes, be it denim or cotton shirts, offered at a reasonable price. At the home linen section, bedspreads with designs featuring comic characters are featured.

Addressing presspersons later, Mr. Raja said Co-optex registered about Rs.126.59 crore as retail sales in 2007-08. There was an increase of Rs.26 crore in sales compared to the previous year. Nearly Rs.12 crore was made as sales from the about 400 exhibitions organised at the Co-optex showrooms across the country last year.

The showroom at Perambur has been set a sales target of Rs.1 crore this year, he said. A rebate of 20 per cent on cotton and 30 per cent on silk varieties would be offered at the exhibition, which is on till July 12.

Handlooms and Khadi secretary Viswanath Shegaonkar and Co-optex special officer and managing director M.P. Nirmala were present.

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