Rajdeep Ranawat is back in Chennai with a bunch of brand new capsule edits!

Rajdeep Ranawat is not a new name in Chennai; so much so, he’s had clients from the city for almost two decades now. A graduate from National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi in 2000; Rajdeep trained in France before working for a New York based fashion house and designing for brands such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale and Lord & Taylor. He launched his own eponymous label in 2004 and has since concentrated on ‘art to wear,’ deeply inspired by nature.

The label is a favourite with many South Indian celebs including Kajal Aggarwal, Regina Cassandra, Pooja Hegde and Lakshmi Manchu and shot back into viral popularity during the lockdown when Kareena Kapoor Khan was seen sporting the label’s signature imama kaftan quite a few times. The designer returns to Chennai and we find out what his new collection has in store for fashion enthusiasts in the city.

“The collection we’re bringing to Chennai is a spring-summer edit and contains quite a few capsule collections that we’ve put together keeping the city’s clientele in mind. I have a lot of regular clients from the city who buy from us online and also walk into my store in Delhi very often and so, I am aware of what silhouettes work for them. We’re known for our prints in pure silk and for our comfortable silhouettes and I’m bringing a few pieces from our Baadla collection, which is engineered prints in black and white; a few other pieces from our Filigree and Gardenia collections; and some of our popular bandhani silhouettes to cater to Chennai. So, it’s a mixed bag of about 25-30 pieces that will showcase the essence of our brand and what we’re all about,” begins the designer who is a favourite among several B-town celebs including Kriti Sanon, Vidya Balan, Bhumi Pednekar, Neha Dhupia and Taapsee Pannu among others.

“Our silhouettes are very common — kaftans, kurtas, pants — and we don’t do fitted outfits. I am a resort designer and I’m very proud of our signature belted imama kaftan that has now been copied by over 100 designers all across the country. It’s a v-neck and sports the belt right under the bust and is free-flowing and free size, perfect for relaxed dressing and casual yet fashionable wear. It’s also got our signature broach right bang in the middle of the belt. We are also known for straight cuts and easy-breezy silhouette and our pieces can be worn two sizes up or down. We also ensure we use fabrics so light that you can pack around 150 pieces in a regular-sized suitcase,” the designer adds.

Known for their focus on breezy fabrics the designer explains that they, “stick to pure habotai silk which is very light and luxurious and we import huge cartons of the fabric from China. It’s an all-weather fabric and you can wear it any time of the year. We also stick to sustainable eco-friendly azo-free inks for our digital printing.”

With a colour palette that always focuses on muted shades including dusky rose, yellows, ivories and charcoal greys, the label has also just launched their Seville collection of kaftans, kurtas and pants online which is inspired by the city of Seville in Spain and is departure from their floral and ethnic prints, shifting focus to young, contemporary, graphic and geometric motifs that they’ve never done before.

INR 16,000 onwards. At Collage.

romal@newindianexpress.com
 @elromal