Woven Histories: The Story Behind the Chorus Resort 2027 Collection

Some garments tell a story through silhouette. Others carry the histories of the people, places, and traditions that shaped them. For Karishma Swali, craft is more than a technique, it is a form of cultural memory, passed through generations and preserved through the act of making.

Emerging from the historic ateliers of Chanakya International, Chorus is rooted in a four-decade legacy of textile and embroidery excellence. The Resort 2027 Collection looks to the rich textile architectures of the Indian subcontinent, drawing inspiration from the fluid drape of the sari and dhoti, the botanical language of chintz embroidery, and the distinct craft traditions that continue to define communities across regions. The result is a collection that feels both timeless and contemporary, shaped as much by heritage as by design.

As Chorus arrives at Baccarat Hotel New York for an exclusive trunk show in the Petit Salon, the partnership brings together two houses united by a shared reverence for craftsmanship. Ahead of the showcase, we spoke with Swali about the intelligence of making, the enduring relevance of handcraft, and the traditions woven into every piece.

Behind the Collection with Karishma Swali, Co-founder and Creative Director, Chorus

1. The Chorus Resort Collection marks a new chapter for the brand. What inspired this collection, and how does it reflect the values and legacy of Chanakya International?

Chanakya is a textile and embroidery house with a four-decade history in elevating and preserving India's cultural heritage through craft excellence. For us in India, craft is a collective identity, woven into the way communities understand themselves and their place in the world. Chorus emerges from that belief, dedicated to the textile architectures of the Indian subcontinent. Resort 2027 draws from the botanical language of chintz embroidery, and at its heart are the sari and the dhoti, two of the oldest garments of the subcontinent, each a single length of unstitched cloth that wraps, drapes, and folds around the body with remarkable fluidity. That relationship between cloth and form, defined by ease and movement rather than construction, runs through the collection in skirts that wrap, tops that drape, and silhouettes shaped by that same quality of fluid, unstructured elegance.

2. Chanakya has spent four decades preserving and elevating traditional textile and embroidery techniques. How do these heritage crafts inform the design process for Chorus today?

The making comes first, always. At Chanakya, technique is a form of knowledge, a way of seeing and shaping the world. For Resort 2027, chintz became a central reference, not as a printed textile but as an embroidery tradition, its dense botanical motifs of flowers, leaves, and flowering trees interpreted entirely by hand. These decisions about surface are inseparable from decisions about form, and the collection is shaped by both in equal measure. The craft leads, and we follow its intelligence.

3. Many of the world's most celebrated luxury houses work with Chanakya artisans. What makes handcrafted embroidery so enduring in an age of rapid production and technology?

Over four decades, Chanakya has built an archive of over 10,000 embroidery references and more than 100,000 craft explorations, each one a record of knowledge accumulated through making. Because the hand carries what the machine cannot: time and intention. There is a depth to that which no technology has yet been able to replicate because its very value lies in the irreducible presence of the human. In an era that prizes speed, there is something quietly radical about objects that ask us to slow down, to look closely, to feel the weight of what was made. We are grateful that the great luxury houses recognize this, and that the dialogue between their vision and the knowledge of our makers has endured for as long as it has.

4. Travel and resort dressing often evoke a sense of place. Were there particular landscapes, cultural influences, or artistic references that shaped this collection?

The subcontinent is extraordinarily vast in its regional identities, and this collection is shaped by that diversity. The weavers of Kurinjipadi carry within their work the particular rhythms of coastal Tamil Nadu. The Angami Naga of Khonoma bring a visual language rooted in the highlands of Nagaland, bold, assured, entirely its own. These are complete worlds, each with a distinct understanding of cloth and its place in a community. What drew us to them was precisely that specificity, and the sense that when you work this closely with a tradition, it leaves its mark on everything, on the silhouette, the surface, the feeling of the finished garment.

5. Baccarat and Chorus share an appreciation for exceptional craftsmanship and heritage. What felt most natural about bringing these two worlds together for this trunk show?

At Chanakya, we have always sought values within our alliances, a shared belief in the depth and integrity of making. In learning more about Baccarat’s history, we discovered a common reverence for the hand, for excellence developed over generations, and for the patience required to create things of lasting beauty. Crystal and textile are worlds apart in their materials and methods, yet the devotion to craft that runs through both felt entirely kindred. At its best, craft transcends geography and medium, allowing distinct traditions to recognize and learn from one another.