Pop Paisley brings fashion’s most travelled motif from Persia to pop culture

Fashion has always moved in circles. What feels fresh today often carries the ghost of another decade, another city, another woman who once wore it first. Bell bottoms disappear only to return on luxury runways. Corsets evolve from restrictive undergarments into symbols of power. Vintage scarves become treasured heirlooms passed between generations. Trends don’t vanish — they wait patiently for the right cultural moment to return. And perhaps no motif understands reinvention better than paisley.

Pop Paisley emerged from a deeply personal fascination with lineage and inherited memory

Long before it became a pop-cultural staple splashed across psychedelic shirts in the ’70s or bohemian dresses in the early 2000s, paisley began as the Persian booteh — a curved motif inspired by the cypress tree, symbolic of resilience, eternity, and life. From Persia, it travelled into Kashmir, where it evolved into the intricately woven ambis adorning luxurious shawls, coveted across empires. Later, industrial Scotland transformed the motif into a globally recognisable textile language, commercialising it for mass production while retaining its visual richness. Through every migration, paisley adapted without losing itself. It shifted identities across centuries and geographies, absorbing new meanings while carrying traces of its past.

That fluidity became the emotional and visual starting point for Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika’s SS’26 collection, Pop Paisley — an edit that approaches fashion history not as something static or archival, but as something alive, evolving, and in constant conversation with the present.

For founder Shubhika Sharma, the drop emerged from a deeply personal fascination with lineage and inherited memory. While researching the motif, she found herself tracing the journey that eventually shaped the collection. But instead of preserving paisley in its most recognisable or nostalgic form, it reimagines the motif entirely through the expressive lens of the Papa Don’t Preach universe — glamorous, youthful, theatrical, and deeply rooted in Indian craftsmanship.

“For us, it wasn’t about choosing one moment in paisley’s journey — it was about honouring its full migration,” says Shubhika. “From Persia to Kashmir to Scotland, the motif has always adapted, and that fluidity became our starting point. What we preserved was its symbolic depth and recognisability; what we reinterpreted was its scale, placement, and construction.”

That philosophy reveals itself immediately through the collection’s silhouettes and textile language. Here, paisley is no longer treated as delicate ornamentation tucked into borders or embroidery. It becomes magnified, sculptural, and architectural. Hand-illustrated motifs are digitally transferred onto beaten gold jacquards, transforming the print into something almost armour-like in its visual impact. Saris appear structured and commanding. Bralettes carry warrior energy. Sculpted blouses, peplums, draped skirts, and sharply tailored jackets blur the line between occasionwear and everyday dressing. The motif no longer functions as decoration alone — it becomes attitude, and identity.

There is also a distinctly playful quality running through Pop Paisley, one that feels deeply connected to the spirit of pop culture itself. Paisley has always existed across worlds — from royal shawls to rockstar wardrobes — and the collection embraces that same sense of movement. Metallic textures meet fluid drapes. Traditional silhouettes are sharpened with contemporary construction. Dramatic proportions coexist with wearability. The collection never feels weighed down by history, despite drawing so heavily from it.

That balance sits at the core of the edit’s “Vintage x Forward” philosophy. Rather than romanticising the past, the collection reframes it through a modern lens, asking how heritage can exist within the realities of contemporary dressing. Yet finding that balance required restraint.

“Anything that leaned into theatrical dressing felt too nostalgic, and anything that disconnected from craft felt too futuristic,” shares Shubhika. “The balance came from constantly asking — would a woman today actually live in this?”

That question shapes nearly every aspect of the collection. Instead of creating garments restricted to singular occasions, Pop Paisley imagines clothing that integrates naturally into a woman’s existing wardrobe and lifestyle. A structured jacket can elevate tailored trousers during the day, then transition effortlessly over a sari for evening dressing. A bralette moves fluidly between sharp tailoring and softer drapes. Kaftans, shararas, and sculpted skirts are designed with equal consideration for comfort, glamour, and movement.

“The intention was always to move away from single-event dressing,” the designer explains. “These pieces are designed to integrate, not isolate — they evolve with the wearer’s day, mood, and setting.” That versatility feels especially significant within the context of Indian fashion, where occasionwear has traditionally existed in a separate category from everyday dressing. But the collection imagines a woman who wears Indian craft beyond weddings and festivities — into workspaces, networking events, intimate dinners, and moments of personal expression. The collection reframes Indian wear not as something reserved solely for ceremony, but as something dynamic, contemporary, and deeply personal.

And despite its bold visual language, there is softness embedded throughout Pop Paisley. Strength and vulnerability coexist naturally within the garments, creating silhouettes that feel both commanding and emotional. “Paisley itself has always symbolised resilience and fluidity, the interplay between tulle and jacquard, or delicacy and structure, felt like an honest reflection of that shared language” adds Shubhika. “At the same time, the modern Indian woman embodies that same duality — she’s soft but self-assured, expressive yet grounded.”

That duality becomes one of the drop’s strongest emotional threads. The woman imagined through it is not interested in choosing between femininity and strength, tradition and individuality, or glamour and ease. Instead, the garments allow those ideas to exist together. There is drama within the collection, certainly, but there is also practicality — an understanding that contemporary luxury must move with the wearer rather than restrict her.

Equally central to Pop Paisley is its commitment to craftsmanship. Created by more than 150 third-generation karigars, the collection foregrounds the artisans behind the embroidery, textile work, draping, and finishing. Their role, according to Shubhika, extends far beyond technical execution.“When you’re working with karigars who have inherited their craft over generations, there’s an emotional intelligence in how they approach detail, proportion, even restraint,” she says. “Often, it’s their understanding of material and technique that refines the final piece.”

That emotional intelligence gives the collection much of its depth. In a fashion landscape increasingly shaped by speed, replication, and digital perfection, the edit feels intentionally tactile. Every embellished surface, every woven jacquard, every carefully constructed drape carries evidence of human touch and collaboration. Craft here is not presented as nostalgia or preservation for its own sake; instead, it evolves alongside contemporary silhouettes and styling.

Pop Paisley’s accessories extend that narrative even further. Sculptural bags such as The Gilded Piglet and Golden Cascade introduce a sense of whimsy and personality, while the high jewellery line anchors the collection in permanence and legacy. Rather than functioning as afterthoughts, the accessories feel embedded within the larger emotional world of the drop.

“In the Papaverse, a look is never complete without its punctuation,” the deisgner adds. “While garments speak of expression, the jewellery anchors the edit in legacy — it’s a more intimate, enduring layer of the story.”

Pop Paisley succeeds because it understands that heritage is not something to be frozen in time. The motif has survived centuries precisely because it evolved — moving fluidly across cultures, generations, and identities without ever losing its essence. By magnifying paisley, reshaping its construction, and grounding it in contemporary dressing, Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika transforms the motif from something familiar into something newly powerful.

And while fashion may always return in circles, Pop Paisley proves that the most compelling reinventions are the ones that carry history forward rather than simply repeating it. Here, the motif completes yet another turn of its journey — from Persia to Kashmir, from Scotland to pop culture, from archival textile to modern Indian wardrobe — louder, bolder, and entirely alive in the present moment.

Prices start at Rs 40,000. Available online.

Mail ID: anshula.u@newindianexpress.com

Twitter: @indulgexpress

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels