احرامی بافی
احرامی بافی
EHRĀMI WEAVE
Rediscovered GemEhrami weave is a double weave fabric woven on 16 harness 17 treadle looms. In this double weave fabric, one warp and two sets of weft are interconnected to form a two layered fabric with geometric patterns. This double weave is relatively thick, heavy and reversable meaning there are two right sides or faces and no wrong side.
Accurate and reliable data on the formation of this technique is limited. But the master weavers claim that this double layered fabric is more than 500 years old and was initially woven in one colour but later evolved into new designs that consisted of two contrasting colours allowing the formation of geometric patterns and borders.
Traditionally Ehrami was woven into rectangular shapes used as tablecloths, praying carpets or for the use of wrapping garments or expensive textiles. Considering the change in lifestyles, complexity of this weaving method and the increasing cotton prices, demand for this fabric declined. Consequently, the younger weavers were less inclined to learn such elaborate and time-consuming weave which resulted in the decreasing number of weavers who know the art. Ehrami weave is now one of the endangered crafts in Iran.
While working on an ikat fabric collection, the weaver introduced Delkūk team to a fabric called Ehrami weave.
Captivated by its elegance, fabric structure and characteristics, its potential and place in a premium and contemporary wardrobe could be immediately seen.
Not long after, the project of Ehrami bafi, an attempt to revive this double weave fabric, started between Delkūk as the client and the master weaver, Jamal Ghadirzadeh; a descendant of Ehrami weavers who owns a family weaving workshop in the city of Yazd. The Project took two years to complete and close to 200 meters of premium quality cotton Ehrami fabric was woven in three different colours. The yarns were dyed in a traditional dyeing workshop in the city of Kashan, the capital of weaving and dyeing of the region.
A collection of entirely reversible garments was made and shipped to Australia, to Melbourne and Sydney, in June 2023 and formally launched in Iran, cities of Tehran and Mashhad, in March 2024.
