It's cropped pants all the way in Rajesh Pratap’s SS ’17 collection

Rajesh Pratap Singh may have graduated from NIFT 23 years ago, but the designer seems to be reliving his classroom nostalgia through his latest Spring Summer collection. Inspired by the Punjabi salwar kameez and school girl uniforms, the collection includes a range of apparel designed from paper, silk, linen, khadi and cotton all woven in-house under the guidance of the courtier who considers himself a product engineer rather than a designer.

Synonymous with his clean-cut silhouettes and wearable designs, the 48-year-old who has played with the monochrome on multiple occasions decided to stick with his staple colour palette in his SS ’17 collection, The Punjabi Suit. “My collections always feature three colours — white, indigo and black. As a rule, when I begin designing, I always start off with garments in white. It is something I have followed for years now,” shares the New Delhi-based designer. A master of reinvention, his collection, though influenced by the Punjabi wardrobe staple, is far from basic. Expect to find cropped pants teamed with off-kilter striped kurtis, pin-tucked tunics with vests and waistcoats, breezy dhoti pants and bhangala jackets paired with a dress. 

Even as elements of menswear continue to find their way into his collections, blurring lines of gender specific clothing, Rajesh Pratap Singh attributes this narrative to his formal training as a menswear designer. “It’s not like it is a conscious decision. But, to me, I would find a jacket on a woman way more attractive that a dress.”

In the menswear section look out for drop-crotch dhoti pants and double-breasted jackets that feature an abundance of stripes. “If I had to pick something from the collection it would be the khadi pant-suit that comes with a double vest jacket.”
While this collection is strictly ‘not-a-red-carpet-look’, Rajesh Pratap tells us to keep an eye out for his new menswear line that will be showcased at the Paris Men’s Fashion Week at the end of the month. `12,500 onwards. Details: facebook.com/rajeshpratapsinghworks/