Well-known among celebs like Priyanka Chopra, Shilpa Shetty and Yami Gautam, KoAi by Anugrah Chandra has been a regular on the New Delhi fashion scene since August 2019. After making their debut in Chennai earlier this year in May, the label is back in the city with their latest collection that focuses on abstraction and emancipation. We caught up with the designer to find out more about the latest edit.
“The new collection is all about the concepts of abstraction and emancipation. That translates into abstract prints that enable us to see beyond the tangible. In some way, the effort has been to extract the infinite out of the finite, keeping the theme focused on abstraction,” explains Anugrah, who has no professional training in fashion but gave up his career in law to create KoAi.
Expect apparel that is non-fussy and meant for daily wear. The silhouettes from KoAi have an international appeal; are all ready-to-wear; but the origins of each piece are kept quintessentially Indian. Using a mixed palette of dark and light colours like red, orange, pink, violet, indigo, purple, green and black — this new collection focuses on shirt dresses, tops, skirts, shirts, pants, jumpsuits, long dresses, short dresses, kaftans and capes in silk chiffon, heavy cotton silk, poplin and cotton.
“KoAi means ‘love child,’ and was a love child of my aesthetic and my obsession with Japan. I am very inspired by Japanese culture and you will often see this in my silhouettes, choice of motifs, fabrics, colour palettes and even in the design and décor of my store in Delhi,” adds Anugrah, who is excited to present a brand new collection in Chennai, for the second time, in the same year.
The label, which was an immediate hit among the fashionistas in Delhi and now in Chennai, initially began as a purely prêt brand, gradually expanding to festive collections with saris and kurtas. The preparation for their next collection is already underway, but Anugrah prefers to keep what’s in store, a secret.
INR 4,500 onwards. Available online.
romal@newindianexpress.com
@elromal