ELLE Weaves: Inside The Making Of Modern Ikat With Translate

Ikat has long held a significant place in India’s textile landscape. It is a craft defined by precision, patience and the ability of many skilled hands to work in synchrony. The textile carries cultural precision in every strand, and its making involves a sequence of steps that remain unchanged across generations. In the Pochampally belt of Telangana, this knowledge continues to thrive through artisan communities, who treat the process as both a responsibility and a legacy.

Translate Ikat India’s work is rooted in this environment. Over the past fifteen years, the brand has built a steady and respectful partnership with these artisans, treating Ikat as wearable art shaped by collaboration rather than trend. The idea is to protect a textile that has technical complexity woven into every stage of its creation.

Every Ikat begins well before it enters the loom. The pattern maker maps the design onto bundles of yarn, calculating every motif with exacting accuracy. Even the smallest shift can alter the outcome of the final cloth. The tier follows, binding knots across the yarn with rubber strips that protect specific segments from absorbing dye. These knots act as the first safeguard of the design. The dyed yarn moves through repetitive cycles of tying, dyeing, drying and re-tying. The more colours involved, the more layered the process becomes.

The dye master determines every shade through a balance of instinct and experience. Temperature, timing and proportion are adjusted carefully so the yarn absorbs colour evenly. After each shade is complete, the yarn returns to the tier for a new series of knots before entering the next dye bath. Once the colours are prepared, the warper stretches the yarn across open spaces outside their home, aligning each thread exactly as mapped. This is when the characteristic feathered edges of Ikat start to appear.

The weft winder then prepares the weft yarn for the shuttle, ensuring the right tension and colour sequence. Before weaving begins, the artisan pieces each dyed yarn onto the warp threads using a microscopic join strengthened with ash powder. The join is almost invisible and strong enough to withstand the loom. The weaver then completes the textile with controlled rhythm and sharp focus, merging warp and weft into a pattern that has already passed through many hands.

Translate’s relationship with the Pochampally artisans has shaped new design pathways and encouraged an ongoing exchange of ideas. Traditional skill meets contemporary thinking through a process that respects the integrity of the weave. For the brand, Ikat is a heritage textile that deserves longevity. The intention is to create garments that last, pieces customers continue to wear years after they first purchased them. 

Their silhouettes echo this approach. The clothes are crisp, refined and designed with everyday versatility in mind. The work of the pattern makers and stitching artisans supports the textile with the same level of care that goes into the loom. Consistency and technical clarity remain central to the brand’s ethos.

The new collection, Silk Odyssey The Bold and The Beautiful, reflects a deeper exploration of silk Ikat. The team has worked with lustrous tissues that catch light and raw silks that hold structure. The motifs draw from Pochampally language yet feel renewed through fresh colour compositions. The result is a series of textiles that feel luxurious while retaining a clear handwoven identity.

Innovation remains necessary for a craft like Ikat. New colours, motifs and silk varieties help the textile evolve without losing its character. These interventions strengthen artisan livelihoods, broaden design possibilities and keep the weave relevant for a contemporary audience. Silk Odyssey captures the years of experience and experimentation that have shaped Translate’s journey. The colour interactions, blurred edges and meticulous weaving all come together in pieces that honour both heritage and progress.

Translate Ikat India continues to build its story through long term collaboration and trust. The brand stands as a reminder that traditional craft grows when guided with intention. Ikat remains one of India’s most intricate weaves and through Translate, its future feels grounded, adaptable and firmly connected to its roots.

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