Jason & Anshu, more famously known as the designer duo behind the label Small Shop is a regular favourite within Chennai fashion circles. Based out of Bengaluru, the designer duo has visited the city very often since their inception in 2006 and is now here with their ‘non-seasonal’ AW ’21 edit, ROAM.
“As the world reopens with caution, the compulsion to get out and ROAM is strong! This seasonless collection brings together timeless pieces, expressive of elements in nature, which brighten up any urban context. The pieces that we’ve featured in the collection can slip right into anyone’s wardrobe, as long as the wardrobe is focused on sustainability. You can mix and match the pieces and we encourage people to find their own individuality and their own identity through the collection,” explains designer Anshu Arora who graduated from National Institute of Fashion Technology, (NIFT), Delhi in 1996.
“We’ve focused on a lot of shibori, prints and patch work using pieces of gorgeous fabric that we found lying around the studio. A lot of pieces came into being like that. We pored over them for a while and what came out of that process found its way into the collection. We focused on a lot of silk, velvet and crepe. There’s a lot of black, deep blues, amethyst and accents of blue and yellow and we’ve managed to keep it as wintery as we could. ROAM features shirts, jackets, tunics and dresses,” adds designer Jason Cheriyan, who also graduated from NIFT, Delhi in 1990.
Next up, the duo is looking at a collection focusing on cottons. And while they are not sure about what the collection will finally look like, they are sure they’ll work with handloom and khadi from a place called Little Flower in Sundarpur, Bihar.
INR 7,000 onwards. On till Dec 31. At Amethyst.
romal@newindianexpress.com
@elromal