Re-inventing traditional Indian fashion keeping in mind evolving lifestyle is a challenge that not many take up. Indya, however, does show with aplomb and works on collections that are a mix of both ethnic and western. They emphasise on contemporary silhouettes crafted with lush fabrics, traditional embroideries, prints and motifs. The brand have also just opened their first Indya Luxe store in Commerical Street. We head to the newly opened outlet and talk shop with Shivani Poddar, co- founder of Indya.
“The reason why we started Indya was to revolutionise and modernise Indian wear, while ensuring it looks contemporary. What I am seeing as a consumer is that ethnic is super dated. It has not changed for decades. What my mom is wearing is the same as what I am wearing. It all looks the same, except for designer wear which is pretty expensive. We are an occasion wear brand. We do not do much of daily wear so our day wear range is very small,” begins Shivani.
Talking about what the brand does differently, Shivani says, “We work with a lot of designers. We recently launched a collection with Varun Bahl and also with Samant Chauhan. We are going live with five designers in the next few months. We collaborate with them for high street collections.”
Instead of saris, the brand does pre-stitched saris. Even though they have normal saris, their largest category is that of pre-stitched ones. “Even for lehengas, we try to make it glamorous and modern. So, whatever we do, we keep in mind that women are looking for something that is slightly new age with a take on age-old ethnic wear,” she adds.
Telling us more about the store, the co-founder shares, “This is our first Indya Luxe store. We already have 26 stores for Indya, which is our high street brand. This is our first premium store. We have launched a made-to-measure feature, where you can customise your ensemble. You can select any silhouette, choose the fabric, choose the type of cut you need and in 20 to 22 days, we will deliver it to you. This service is only available at this store. We do not offer it anywhere else.”
INR 3,000 onwards. At Commercial Street.
Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @al_ben_so