Olive green meets a fuchsia pink panel, paisley running across the join.
- Genuinely hand block printed with hand-carved wooden blocks, never a screen
- The contrast pink dupatta is finished with a paisley border along both edges
- Opaque silk that needs no lining, though one can be added to elevate the look
The colour block
The set is built on a deliberate clash. Olive green carries the body of the print, and a panel of fuchsia pink cuts against it, with light blue and beige paisleys travelling over both so the two halves read as one piece.
A linear rectangular border of paisleys closes the hem and runs down the dupatta edges, which is what makes the contrast look designed rather than accidental. If you have been searching for a green suit with a genuine contrast dupatta rather than a safe matching one, this is that piece.
Wearing it
Olive is forgiving in daylight and the pink lifts it, so this works as easily at a desk on a Monday as it does at a lunch or an afternoon function. Keep jewellery to oxidised silver or plain gold studs and let the two colours do the talking; a plain olive or pink chikan inner is all it needs if you want to underline one side.
Hand block printing on silk is unusual - the craft is normally told about cotton - and a genuinely block-printed Katan set at this price sits well below what a premium woven silk suit costs.
The set
Top: 2.5 m, 44 to 45 inches wide
Bottom: 2.5 m, 44 to 45 inches wide
Dupatta: 2.5 m, 35 to 36 inches wide
Fabric: Katan silk, hand block printed with hand-carved wooden blocks
Lining: not required, the fabric is opaque; add one only to elevate the look
Stitching: up to 4XL for straight kurta sets, with length customised for larger sizes
Weight: 600 to 650 g for top, bottom and dupatta together
Care: dry clean the first time, then a gentle cold hand wash
Dispatch: dispatched the next working day, even though every metre is printed by hand
The paisleys sit a shade off register where the blocks meet the colour break. That is the stamp landing by hand, and it is what tells you no machine touched this cloth.