This collection doesn’t revisit the past, but gently lives within it

Summer does something strange to memory. It slows it down, softens its edges. A certain kind of light, a familiar fabric, even the way air sits on skin can bring back something you didn’t realise you were holding onto. With Once Upon a Time, Ode To Odd leans into that feeling, building a collection that is less about looking back and more about living inside those moments.

With Once Upon a Time, Ode To Odd builds a collection that is less about looking back and more about living inside every day moments

For Shreya and Priyal Mewara, the starting point was instinctive. “It began as a feeling more than a concept, almost like revisiting something we hadn’t fully left behind,” Shreya says. That sense of return shapes the collection in subtle ways. Nothing feels overly constructed or forced. Instead, each piece carries a kind of ease, as if it has always existed and has simply found its way back.

There is a strong emotional pull toward textiles that already hold history. The designers speak about inherited fabrics not as references, but as something deeply personal. “We’re deeply drawn to things that carry time within them. Inherited textiles feel incredibly intimate, almost like they’ve lived lives before reaching you,” Priyal explains. That idea comes through most clearly in the use of petit point embroidery, drawn from their mother’s collection. It is delicate and familiar.

The palette stays true to the brand’s visual language, soft whites, gentle florals, checks, and stripes, but there is a noticeable restraint. Fabrics are chosen for how they feel as much as how they look. “We looked for fabrics that feel very delicate yet comforting, something one would reach out to time and again,” Shreya says. You can sense that intention in the way the garments sit.

Handwork plays an important role, but it never feels decorative for the sake of it. Embroidery and patchwork are treated as part of the story. “These techniques felt closest to the story we were telling. They’re slow, intentional, and deeply personal,” says Priyal. The silhouettes follow that same line of thought. They are fluid, uncomplicated, and shaped by the fabric rather than imposed structure. “We let the fabric lead. The idea was to create pieces that feel like an extension of the body, fluid and effortless,” they explain. Nothing feels stiff or overly designed.

What stands out most is the decision to keep things visible. Raw edges, seams, small irregularities are all left as they are. “We don’t see them as imperfections, but as evidence of the hand,” Shreya says. It gives the clothes a certain honesty. You can see how they are made, and that feels intentional.

In the end, Once Upon a Time does not try to recreate nostalgia in an obvious way. It approaches it more quietly, through texture, process, and memory that sits just below the surface. The result is a collection that feels personal without being overly sentimental, and, most importantly, real.

Prices start at Rs 15,000. Available online.

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Twitter: @indulgexpress

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