The eminent fashion brand, Kanelle, recently featured its signature Fall line, Blue Jean Baby at New York Fashion Week. The collection champions blue denim, washed and treated, to feel great on the skin. Fabric manipulation and intricate hand detailing manifests the denim textures, like yarn mesh and patchwork. Functional and modern, simple lines, nipped waists, side pockets and a certain asymmetry play a key role. An ever so subtle nod to the timeless 80s and the effortless glamour & feminity of Lady Diana. We had a chance to interview the design genius behind the brand, Kanika Jain, post the brand’s success at NYFW.
WHAT LED YOU TO THE PURSUE FASHION DESIGN?
Design or creativity came to me naturally as I grew up in a creative environment seeing my mother constructing clothes for me. Growing up in a place where I saw and learnt from her great sense of understanding of textiles made me very naturally dive into the field of fashion. Eventually, it was my sheer passion that made me pursue the design field.
TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AT LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION AND WORKING FOR THE WIFW?
Being at LCF taught me the basics of design field and the possibilities one could look into after studying fashion. Working closely with people from different backgrounds and cultures gave me a wide perspective of creativity and that was a great learning experience. Working at WIFW was the practical learning of what I had understood from my experience at LCF. It was a great opportunity for me to truly experience the real process that the industry follows.
Kanelle at NYFW
WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE MAJOR INFLUENCES ON YOUR WORK, REGARDING BOTH IDEOLOGY AND DESIGN?
The influences in my life and work come from traveling and also by meeting new people. Travel is a major part of my life that gives me great perspective about many things personally as well as professionally that has great influence on my ideologies and my design aesthetics.
WHAT WAS THE MAIN INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR CURRENT PROJECT ‘BLUE JEAN BABY’ FOR NYFW?
The collection Blue Jean Baby is a season-less collection and was inspired by the feminism of Lady Diana. The clothes have a subtle nod to the timeless 80’s fashion but constructed with modern aesthetics. The use of textiles have been a major reason for the collection to be season less and the styles of the garments made it effortless.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS BEHIND THE PROJECT?
The entire process of creating the collection had been extremely exciting and informative. The blue denim was washed and treated to feel great on skin and had been combined with the yarn mesh that we created. The process of making knitwear was very exciting to create as well. The closer look on the clothes makes one notice the button details, which were specially customized, and have been used throughout the collection.
HOW WOULD YOU PITCH THE PROJECT IN TERMS OF USABILITY?
As mentioned above, this collection is season less and comprises of all separates. 80-85% of the pieces in the collection can be worn in any season without having to think twice. The easy to wear separates makes the wearer use the clothes multiple times and style it in many different ways. Denim can never go wrong!
WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON THE FASHION INDUSTRY OF INDIA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO IDEOLOGY?
Fashion industry is a growing industry in India and as per me will take a fair amount of time to set into the right space. The growing use of Indian textiles by our very own designers from India have taken a good shape of the industry in terms of retaining its culture and adding to the livelihood of the local artisans of India. However, I feel the industry/designers/creative people need more support in terms of the process of growth and backing it up with a more organized business set up.
WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE GOALS AND ARE THERE ANY NEW PROJECTS YOU ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
Yes, we are working on our Spring 2019 collections and are really looking forward to launch the same. It has been exciting to work on the collection so far and we hope that we receive wonderful response to the same.
Text Nidhi Verma