Recently, Jaipur came alive with Punit Balana’s 10th year anniversary soirée that began with the unveiling of his new store and the evening concluded with a fashion showcase of his new AW ’25 collection, all of which paid homage the city that remains his eternal muse — Jaipur! Over the past decade, Punit Balana has quietly but assuredly carved a niche in the Indian ethnic wear landscape. What began in the narrow lanes of his Pink City atelier has today blossomed into a label that dresses celebrities, brides and men who seek comfort without compromise, modernity without losing the thread of tradition.
A decade in, the designer stands at a full-circle moment, not as someone who has arrived, but as someone who has found his way home with a brand new store and collection, both giving subtle nods to his signature elements, hues and style in more ways than one.
“It’s truly been a great journey. I wouldn’t call it a smooth ride, it’s had its bumps, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. What has constantly inspired me throughout this decade in the industry is Jaipur. This city has been my muse, shaping my creativity and keeping me grounded. To be here today, celebrating a milestone in this very city that has given me so much, feels incredibly special. From its food to its architecture, everything about Jaipur continues to amaze me. If I had to choose one city in the world to live in, it would always be Jaipur. I’m absolutely in love with this city,” Punit begins.
Punit Balana’s story is not one of overnight success; it is one of persistence, of believing in craft, of returning to authenticity, heritage and artisanal work time and again. “In 2015, the very first year I opened my store in Jaipur, Meera Kapoor happened to walk in while she was in the city for an event. Her aunt picked up something and Meera liked one of our outfits too. She asked if we could customise it and we did a few small changes for her. A little later, I saw her wearing that piece for her own Gurdwara wedding. My collection Shahi Darpan was a turning point, it received an incredible retail response and gave us real strength on the financial front,” he recalls.
The next few years witnessed iconic looks such as Aditi Rao Hydari in his signature Kedia set, the label’s very first ensemble made for Shilpa Shetty, being part of Priyanka Chopra’s wedding celebrations and later designing for Katrina Kaif ’s wedding, creating the ensembles for her family’s haldi and mehendi functions. “Among all the designs, one of my personal favourites has to be the handkerchief blouses. They became iconic in their own right, earning immense media appreciation and a fantastic retail response. These moments are incredibly dear for me and will always remain milestones in my journey,” he reminisces.
The designer marked the occasion of ten years with the launch of his flagship store at Barwara House, Jaipur. We were curious about how the store came to be and he gladly walked us through the whole story, “It’s quite a funny story. I was sitting with a friend and telling her about how 2025 marks 10 years of being in Jaipur and I still haven’t done anything with my existing store, it looks exactly the way it did when we first started. Out of that conversation, she casually suggested checking out this property in Barwara House. She knew I’d been looking for a space to build a store, so I thought, why not? She shared the number and I went to see it. Within two days, I called her back to inform I’ve taken that property and I’m building a store there. It all just happened so fast,” he laughs.
Spanning 3,000 sq ft, the space boasts arched doorways, terracotta and olive tones, coin-detailed curtains and mirror frames finished with local art works that capture Punit’s philosophy of layering old-world craft into new design languages.
“When I walked into space, I felt my energies align and that’s something very important for me in whatever I create. I’ve always enjoyed the process more than the final outcome and this was no different. Every single day of working on the design, choosing the colour palette and shaping the space brought me so much excitement. The store is filled with elements from our signature craft. We’ve created lights and curtains out of Punit Balana stamped coins and there’s a massive glass installation featuring our iconic chandi tilla embroidery. Every corner reflects a part of my story, it captures the essence of my 10-year journey,” the designer enthuses.
But the evening that marked this milestone unfolded in even grander fashion, quite literally, at the iconic Rambagh Palace, where he previewed his brand new AW 2025 collection, Amer. “The collection is inspired by Amer Fort, but it goes beyond that. It also draws deeply from my own journey over the past 10 years. Every collection I’ve worked on, from Shahi Darpan to my most recent Johari Bazaar — has shaped this one in some way. You’ll see familiar silhouettes, crafts and colours from my earlier edits come together here, almost like a reflection of my creative evolution,” he reveals.
Whether it is the playful shimmer of coin embroidery, the fine metallic detailing of chaandi tilla ka kaam or the traditional gota patti, his collections are built around artisanal traditions. With Ananya Panday as the showstopper in a resplendent silk Gulabi Gulal lehenga, embroidered with the brand’s hallmark chaandi tilla ka kaam, the night saw long-time muses including Bhumi Pednekar, Diana Penty and actors Gurfateh Pirzada and Sunny Kaushal wearing pieces from Amer. And having heard so much about his signature craft, chandi tilla ka kaam, we knew it needed a deep dive.
“One of the most unique embroideries we do in our unit is called chandi tilla ka kaam. It has a beautiful story behind it, like much of my work, which is full of these little stories. Back in 2018, while working on my collection Gulaabi Chowk, a friend visited Jaipur and I took her to Amer Fort. I was mesmerised by the Sheesh Mahal, with its tikri glass inlay work. That sparked an idea: how could I recreate something that captures the same brilliance, but without the heaviness of actual glass on fabric? We experimented with countless materials, did endless R&D, until finally we discovered silver sheets. We began cutting them into patterns and shapes, pasting them onto fabric and then layering intricate hand embroidery over them. This technique is extremely delicate, each stitch is precise and only a handful of artisans in our unit are skilled enough to work on it. That’s why in earlier collections, I would only showcase two, three, maybe four pieces with this craft. But in Amer, we’ve featured the maximum number of looks with chandi tilla ka kaam, making it the most significant celebration of this embroidery to date,” he elucidates.
The colour story, too, carries a sense of memory and evolution. Punit revisited his much-loved palette, Surkh Laal, Gulaabi Gulal and Kaccha Aam from Utsav, Dry Henna a n d Mustard from Rabari, reintroduced with fresh interpretations. A new entrant, Raakh, a soft grey, grounded the collection in quiet, timeless elegance. The silhouettes span his alltime best sellers too.
“To bring together colours from across my past collections for this moment makes it even more meaningful. If I talk about the silhouettes, many of our signature pieces continue to live on in Amer. The Kedia set, which we first introduced in 2016, is still part of this collection. The Ghagri set and Maxi from our debut Lakmé Fashion Week’s Bagru showcase, as well as the Ghagri Maxis we launched in 2022, all make a return. You’ll also find the Amer skirt set, achkan set, bundi set, kurtas and jackets alongside newer favourites like the corset lehenga set, the Noor Gharara set, the Rani Sa Anarkali and the waistcoat drape skirt set. What excites me most is that while these silhouettes draw from our archives, none of them feel repetitive. I poured my heart and soul into crafting these 75-80 looks for the runway,” he tells us.
Amer is not just a collection and the Barwara House flagship not merely a store; together, they represent a designer’s intimate dialogue with his roots, his muses and his unwavering belief that true modernity lies in carrying forward the stories of the past while exploring his future.
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