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The Offbeat Sari: Indian Fashion Unravelled
The new sari―from subcultural trends to innovative and experimental designs using cutting-edge materials In recent years, the sari has been reinvented. Urban youth who previously associated the sari with formal attire can now be found wearing saris and sneakers on their commutes to work. Designers are experimenting with hybrid forms such as sari gowns and dresses, pre-draped saris and innovative materials such as steel. Individuals are wearing the sari as an expression of resistance to social norms and activists are embodying it as an object of protest. Today, the sari manifests as a site for design innovation, an expression of identity and a crafted object carrying layers of cultural meanings.
The Offbeat Sari celebrates these innovations in sari design, with photography of pieces by leading contemporary designers. Commissioned essays by notable Indian writers such as Pragya Agarwal and Sonia Faleiro explore ideas such as gender fluidity, politics, sustainability, female empowerment and the self-image of India, alongside interviews with the designers whose work illustrates each theme.
The Offbeat Sari celebrates these innovations in sari design, with photography of pieces by leading contemporary designers. Commissioned essays by notable Indian writers such as Pragya Agarwal and Sonia Faleiro explore ideas such as gender fluidity, politics, sustainability, female empowerment and the self-image of India, alongside interviews with the designers whose work illustrates each theme.
204 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2023
About the author
Pragya Agarwal
12 books68 followersDr Pragya Agarwal is an activist, behavioural and data scientist, speaker and a consultant. As a Senior Academic in US and UK universities, she has held the prestigious Leverhulme Fellowship, following a PhD from the University of Nottingham. Her publications are on reading lists of leading academic courses across the world.
Pragya is the author of SWAY: Unravelling Unconscious Bias published with Bloomsbury Publishing, and ‘Wish we knew what to say: Talking with children about race’, a manual for parents, carers and educators of all backgrounds and ethnicities to talk to children about race and racism, published with Dialogue Books (Little, Brown/Hachette).
Pragya has worked as a consultant and speaker with organisations around the world, including universities, corporate and non-profits, and schools, delivering talks and workshops on unconscious bias, racism, social inclusion, power and privilege.
A passionate campaigner for women’s rights, and two-time TEDx speaker herself, Pragya organised the first ever TEDxWoman event in the north of the UK. She regularly appears on panels and has given keynotes around the world. Pragya has appeared on BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC Breakfast, Sky News, Australian Broadcasting Service, and Canadian Radio. She is the founder of a social enterprise The Art Tiffin. and a research think-tank The 50 Percent Project investigating women’s status and rights around the world. Pragya is the winner of the Diverse Wisdom Writing award from Hay House Publishing in 2018, and was named as one of the 100 influential women in social enterprise in the UK, and one of 50 people creating change in the UK-India corridor.
As a freelance journalist, Pragya writes - ethical, literary, scientific- articles widely. Her writing on bias and prejudice, motherhood, gender and racial inequality and mental health has appeared in The Guardian, New Scientist, Scientific American, Independent, BMJ, Times Higher Education, Huffington Post, Prospect, Forbes, and many more.
Pragya has a mini podcast series ‘Outside the boxes’ examining how the labels and stereotypes affect us as a society, the science behind it, and what we can do about it. And, in 2020, she launched another mini-series ‘Wish We Knew What To Say’ to accompany her book of the same name. In six episodes, she speaks with parents of different ethnic backgrounds about their experiences and raising children with secure identities.
Pragya moved to the UK from India almost twenty years ago to study for a Masters at the University of York on a British Council Fellowship, and now lives in the north- west with her family.
Pragya is the author of SWAY: Unravelling Unconscious Bias published with Bloomsbury Publishing, and ‘Wish we knew what to say: Talking with children about race’, a manual for parents, carers and educators of all backgrounds and ethnicities to talk to children about race and racism, published with Dialogue Books (Little, Brown/Hachette).
Pragya has worked as a consultant and speaker with organisations around the world, including universities, corporate and non-profits, and schools, delivering talks and workshops on unconscious bias, racism, social inclusion, power and privilege.
A passionate campaigner for women’s rights, and two-time TEDx speaker herself, Pragya organised the first ever TEDxWoman event in the north of the UK. She regularly appears on panels and has given keynotes around the world. Pragya has appeared on BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC Breakfast, Sky News, Australian Broadcasting Service, and Canadian Radio. She is the founder of a social enterprise The Art Tiffin. and a research think-tank The 50 Percent Project investigating women’s status and rights around the world. Pragya is the winner of the Diverse Wisdom Writing award from Hay House Publishing in 2018, and was named as one of the 100 influential women in social enterprise in the UK, and one of 50 people creating change in the UK-India corridor.
As a freelance journalist, Pragya writes - ethical, literary, scientific- articles widely. Her writing on bias and prejudice, motherhood, gender and racial inequality and mental health has appeared in The Guardian, New Scientist, Scientific American, Independent, BMJ, Times Higher Education, Huffington Post, Prospect, Forbes, and many more.
Pragya has a mini podcast series ‘Outside the boxes’ examining how the labels and stereotypes affect us as a society, the science behind it, and what we can do about it. And, in 2020, she launched another mini-series ‘Wish We Knew What To Say’ to accompany her book of the same name. In six episodes, she speaks with parents of different ethnic backgrounds about their experiences and raising children with secure identities.
Pragya moved to the UK from India almost twenty years ago to study for a Masters at the University of York on a British Council Fellowship, and now lives in the north- west with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 2, 2026
This is an incredibly beautiful book with deep insights into the history and contemporary context of the sari, weaving in important conversations of social, political and economic factors. I thoroughly enjoyed not only the thoughtful text, but also the incredible photos.
August 15, 2024
Sadly there's no zero rating.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews