cool tops

Thai designer Vinita orchestrates a pink, purple and gray symphony for the design of this shawl. Designed for modern elegance, the shawl is loomed of natural silk.

Purple turns into lilac in a delicious palette of colors orchestrated by Vinita. She works with traditional dyeing techniques to create a scarf of bold elegance that is loomed of raw silk.

Working with ancestral textile craft techniques, Yuni Kristina depicts Java's trumtum motif. It covers a blue silk scarf, stamped by hand and embellished with batik. A symbol of awakening love, it refers to a queen who felt neglected when the king took a mistress. She took up batik, creating stars in the dark sky, stars that became her friends. The king was so impressed with her batik that he rediscovered his great love for his wife.

Abstract images in shades of plum, sky blue, navy and spring green come to life in Bali's legendary hand-stamped batik. By Desak Nyoman Parwati, this set of four rayon face masks is pleated with elastic to loop over the ears. They are double-layered, washable and reusable.

Colorful chrysanthemums cover a radiant shawl of cool blue silk. Working with traditional batik techniques, Yuni Kristina creates a wrap of graceful femininity.

Red ferns flourish in a forest of golden silk. Created in batik, the motifs cover a feminine fan from Melati's Collection.

The silk on the fan is only a small part of a larger textile with a complete motif. Thus patterns and color could vary slightly.

Cream arabesques swirl across ebony silk in a glorious design from Melati's Collection. Created in batik, the motifs cover a feminine fan.

The silk on the fan is only a small part of a larger textile with a complete motif. Thus motifs and color could vary slightly.

Shimmering shades of blue and cream cover this elegant scarf. Yuni Kristina recreates the parang raja. One of many traditional batik motifs, it symbolizes the ancient Javanese kingdom in general. She stamps the blue patterns in pure silk and adds the red blossoms with the batik motif.

By Madhu Agrawal, this beautiful shawl gives a modern look to traditional Varanasi silk, which originated in the town of Banaras. The strands are tie-dyed before they are patiently woven by hand, with nuances of fuchsia, teal, orange and green that ripple across an expanse of blue.

Golden highlights add a regal touch to this superlative textile by the Gobah-Tengey family. Created in rich kente cloth strips, its name means "Conference in Angola." Takpekpe was designed in 1950 by the late Atsu Gobah Tengey-Seddoh to commemorate a special meeting called by the colonial governor to discuss an additional tax or levy being imposed on the subjects. The conference raised voices against the payment of the special levy.

Expert weavers, the Gobah Tengey-Seddoh Family creates this outstanding shawl in 100% cotton. Each strip requires considerable effort, and the looms are worked with both hands and feet. Strips are generally three to four inches wide and seven to ten feet long, and the length of time it takes to complete one strip varies by the complexity of the chosen pattern. The simplest use mostly vertical, or warp patterns, and an experienced weaver can make several of those in one day. But patterns with nearly all weft (horizontal thread) patterns where the warp design is hardly visible can take up to four days to complete an individual strip. Each color has its own meanings in Asante culture. Green is fertility and new harvest, gold is royalty, black is strength, aging, and spirituality, while white is purity. The patterns themselves are carefully chosen symbols, which a master weaver develops and names, often to honor people, historical events, or proverbs.

Hand wash in cool water and use a warm iron.

Floral motifs evoke wine carnations that bloom on cool ecru silk. Peacocks fly amid the blossoms in a traditional Javanese design known as suwiri merak. Demonstrating her mastery of batik, Yuni Kristina creates a scarf of exquisite elegance.