Songket and batik personified

Stories of love, relationship and well-being take centre stage in the Pink Jambu Songtik Fables 2011 collection. From anticipation to trust, tales of life’s journey illustrate the 12 exclusive shawls that form the core of this innovative and exciting collection made possible by collaboration between Pink Jambu and Royal Terengganu Songket (RTS). Designers Tengku Marina Ibrahim and Dr June Ngo drew on these emotive experiences to showcase their technical innovation to merge the two techniques of batik-painting and songket-weaving on a single surface.

More to offer: Putrajaya Botanical Garden’s guide Suhana Hamsan and Putrajaya Challenge Park’s assistant manager Mohd Bazly Mohd Najib showing the various tour package deals available in Putrajaya to corporate travellers.

The result of their collaboration is the perfect union of the two ancient crafts to create unprecedented designs in the world of Asian heritage textiles. “From the beginning, we aimed to create pieces of textile art which are exclusive and embody the notion of personalised luxury. “We have to preserve the traditions of both crafts while making them appeal to the contemporary collector,” said Pink Jambu CEO and design director Tengku Marina. “The themes also have to be timeless so that the shawls become part of a family’s heritage.”

She said each Songtik shawl is a product of 10 months of intensive research and more than 1,000 hours of dedicated handwork. “All artisans involved in the creation of the Songtik shawls are also specially trained to undertake the unique technical challenges presented by this novel approach.” “The whole process required us to think outside the box. Batik-painting is usually done on a piece of fabric but we found a way to paint on threads using the canting tool,” said RTS’ director of textile design and production Dr Ngo.

“Then, we experimented with different weaving techniques to preserve the colours of the batik patterns while inserting the metallic threads to form the songket patterns. It was technically a very challenging process.” An added dimension of the collection is the bespoke service for those who seek an even more personal touch.

For the first time, Songtik can be used to illustrate a wide range of designs beyond geometric and structured patterns. Fabric weight may also be adjusted to accommodate different usages such as in apparel and interior design. Thus, collectors have the option of choosing individual themes and designs to capture their own special moments.

-thestar online.