“People can be the best version of themselves when they are comfortable,” believes Surmai Jain, founder and creative director of Mumbai-based fashion label Polite Society. And this sartorial philosophy seems to have inspired the brand’s latest edit, Chapter IV. With art-based prints, neutral tones and experimental denims, the collection is a curious blend of contrasting elements bound by one core aspect – the fits and fabrics are all chosen keeping in mind the wearer. Surmai decodes the collection for us. Excerpts:
What was Chapter IV inspired by?
The collection explores the notion of community and who that consists of, embodying the contrasts between the bespoke and the casual. It was inspired by the people who are open to new experiences. I wanted to bridge the gap between comfort and the construction that’d allow them to be the best version of themselves.
How different is this collection from your previous ones?
With our last collection, Wealthy In Its Kind, we aimed to define our core values. With Chapter IV, we want to speak about the community we’re establishing.
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Are there any motifs that are specific to this collection?
The starting point of the collection was shuriken, a small ninja weapon signifying agility. This motif has been used across prints and metallic accessories added to the gar ments. Our prints have arbitrary objects
added to the most common subjects — an iPhone charger and a pearl necklace hanging from a rib cage.
Tell us about the fabrics and colour palette used in this collection.
As for fabrics, we’ve worked with breathable and stretchable denims, handwoven cottons, poplins, linen blends with suiting fabric and easy knits to provide utmost ease to the wearer. For the colour palette, apart from neutrals like beige and black, we’ve worked with a whole spectrum of greens and blues – tea green,
hunter green, polite blue, denim in its raw form and strategic dirty washes. We also have pops of bright orange and red.
Take us through the silhouettes in the collection.
Fit and flare bottoms, second skin tops, jackets with structured shoulders, parachute pants, and form-fitting corsets are the silhouettes featured in the collection.
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