Anar
Organza Chikankari 3-Piece Stitched Suit in Tomato Red with Cotton Lining

The pairing of Gulnar and Anar in the suits collection is intentional. Gulnar is the pomegranate blossom: the hot pink Chikankari on Kota silk, the flower before the fruit. Anar is the pomegranate fruit: the tomato red Chikankari on organza, the red of full ripeness. Both carry the Lucknow Chikankari tradition on premium fabric. Both are tonal: the embroidery thread in the same colour family as the ground. What distinguishes Anar from Gulnar is the addition of a second embellishment technique — the gold sitara beads running in precise lines along the center panel borders — and the fabric: organza rather than Kota silk.
Organza is the structured sheer: a crisp, slightly stiff fabric with significant body and drape, the silk filament woven at high tension to produce the characteristic rustling quality and the reflective surface. Against Kota’s matte, breathable openness, organza is formal and luminous. The tomato red on organza reads at maximum saturation — the reflective surface amplifying the colour rather than absorbing it. The cotton lining throughout — on both the kurta and the palazzo — adds structure and comfort: the organza’s formal drape from the outside, the cotton’s softness against the body from the inside. This is a considered construction choice: the suit is wearable for a full festive day.
The embroidery map carries two techniques simultaneously. The tonal Chikankari on the center front panel is the same tradition as Gulnar and Shabnam: dense floral jaal in red thread on red organza, visible as texture rather than colour contrast. The gold sitara beads — small gold crystal or metal beads — are applied in running lines along both sides of the center panel, in precise vertical sequences from neckline to hem. In the reference image close-up, these gold lines read as the suit’s most visible element: the Chikankari is tonal and requires proximity to see, but the gold beads catch the light and announce themselves across the room. The cuffs carry both techniques in concentrated form: a dense Chikankari band followed by two or three rows of gold sitara, the embellishment vocabulary of the full suit present at the sleeve end.
The dupatta is sheer organza with scattered small red Chikankari snowflake/star buti: the same Chikankari tradition at its most diffuse, the individual buti visible on the transparent organza. When worn, the organza dupatta catches and diffracts the light, the red ground slightly transparent, the small Chikankari buti present as red-on-red surface detail. The name is Anar: the pomegranate, the fruit, the red that is ready.

The Chikankari tradition on organza presents the needlewoman with a different set of challenges from the same tradition on cotton or Kota silk. Organza’s high thread tension and crisp hand make the fabric resistant to the needle passing through it: the running stitch requires more force to penetrate the tightly woven organza weave than the looser cotton or the open khat of Kota. The resulting Chikankari on organza has a slightly different surface quality from the same stitches on cotton: the thread sits against a crisper, more reflective ground, the tonal red-on-red embroidery visible as a surface that catches and refracts the light differently from the unembroidered organza.
The gold sitara beads are applied after the Chikankari is complete: each bead sewn individually to the fabric at its designated position in the border lines, the bead’s own metallic surface providing the contrast that the tonal Chikankari intentionally withholds. The combination of the two techniques — the tonal embroidery that requires proximity and the gold beads that announce themselves at distance — produces a suit that reads at two scales simultaneously. From across the room: the tomato red silhouette and the gold border lines. Up close: the Chikankari floral jaal and the individual bead placements. The suit rewards both distances

• Wash: Dry clean only. Organza with tonal Chikankari and gold sitara beads requires professional care. The beads are the most vulnerable element.
• Sitara beads: Each gold bead is individually sewn. Do not catch, pull, or snag the bead lines. A single pulled bead can loosen adjacent beads. Handle the center panel and cuff areas with care.
• Organza: Do not wring or fold through the embroidered panels. Organza holds fold marks permanently. Store unfolded or rolled.
• Cotton lining: The cotton lining is more robust than the organza outer. The lining protects the organza from body contact. Do not stretch the lining while wearing.
• Tomato red: Strong dye lot. Do not wash with lighter garments in water. Dry clean for all washes.
• Do not: Machine wash, hand wash, wring, bleach.
• Iron: Low heat only, from the cotton lining side only. Never iron the organza outer directly from the front. Never iron on the Chikankari or sitara bead areas.
• Store: Hang or roll — do not fold. Folding organza permanently marks the fold line. Store in a breathable garment bag away from direct light.