Mallika Reddy, the founder of sustainable fashion brand Cancelled Plans, has created a range of luxe bags that fuse high-fashion looks and sustainable philosophy. We first came across her new collection at the Slow Fashion Collective, an exhibition held in the city recently.
The first thing that we noticed about the duffle bags and clutches on display was how chic they looked. Later, when we spoke to Mallika we learnt that all these bags are made by upcycling industrial waste. “I studied architecture at the University of Southern California and immediately took up a job in branding. However, later I continued my research which eventually helped me launch the label,” confesses the scion of the well-known Reddy family of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
She also debuted her first collection at London Design Week, and recently showed them at Hyderabad Design Week. The name of her label struck us as rather strange so we asked her how she came up with it. She informs she often thought of the quote — life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. That’s when she realised that it is true for the industrial waste as well, which would have been discarded (or cancelled as she says) in the ocean, if she and her team had not managed to give them a new lease of life. Presently, the 27-year-old has launched a collection that has wallets, shoes, apparel and belts. “I use things like tablet blisters, flexible plastic from billboard printing factory and cloth fibres from a sock factory,” she shares with alacrity, when we ask her what goes into the making of her bags. The bags come in various sizes and usually follow a monochrome palette of black, white or silver. They are sleek and would work well during your travels as it would suit your relaxed laid-back airport look. The designs are mostly avant-garde and Mallika shares that she loves experimenting with styles. There are about 10 designs like duffle and tote bags, and slings.
More about Mallika
Mallika is busy working on the relaunch of her website and it is coming up soon.
She will be showing her work at Kara Art Festival at Avasa
She also creates sustainable T-shirts with edgy graphics
Rs 600 onwards.