Some people might think that the saree as a garment is on its way out with women becoming more professional by the day. But MetroMela realized that it’s far from the truth. The saree in Chennai is growing in popularity with every passing day. Just take a look at some of the revolutionary changes taking place in the saree industry.

One of the most interesting things that MetroMela noticed at Kumaran Silks was the saree with a pocket! Yes, you read that right, the city is replete with posters of the store Kumaran Silks, advertising its saree with a pocket. So now the average career woman has a place by her hip to carry her mobile phone. Yes, the pocket is built like a mobile phone holder, and is fully embroidered too.
 
Then there is Naidu Hall busy advertising its casual sarees - economical in price and light enough for women to lounge around in and play too. Have you heard of RMKV’s 50,000 color saree? It was created in 2005 by the silk saree store and is a brainchild of its managing director RMK Vishwanathan, who died the same year, a few months after the revolutionary saree, was launched.

Vishwanathan, a graduate in textile engineering from the premier Indian Institute of Technology, had said at that time that the saree was not just a marketing gimmick. It was a way of showing that RMKV was capable of creating a silk saree in any color the heart desired.

Unfortunately, Vishwanathan died in a car accident a few months after the 50,000 color saree hit the market. His dream lives on though. Those at the showroom say the Rs 50,000 saree is still a huge hit among the NRIs and that in just a month of its launch and more than 50 sarees were ordered. The always innovative RMKV is now busy marketing its reversible saree, where you pay for one saree but end up with two by just wearing it the other way around.

And then there’s Pothy’s. This saree company decided to create the world’s longest saree. Not just that. It also decided to display the history of India in its entire splendor on it - right from the Indus Valley Civilization to the freedom struggle, right up to the millennium.

So you can see that the world of sarees in Tamil Nadu isn’t as staid and boring as it once was. It’s just getting more colorful by the day and of course more competitive.