Designer Kshitij Jalori found his way into fashion through the arts. Involved in fine arts as a child, he began developing a keen interest in fashion as well. He would purchase fabrics on a whim, style them and get his own garments stitched. In an attempt to build on his interest further, he studies textiles at NIFT, Delhi. As someone who had absolutely no idea about the vast textile heritage of the country, his first visit to the Bagru block-printing cluster was an eye-opener. Eventually, multiple field trips and stints with the crafts sector led him to establish his eponymous label. The label aims to produce garments using some of the country’s most exquisite textiles while making them fashionable and appealing to a global audience. Below, the designer tells us more about his label and the new collection.
THE PROCESS
Honestly, there isn’t a standard procedure that we follow to develop any collection. Some collections are heavily derived from ideas and narratives that we work around, while others come from my own personal experiences of travel. However, what is consistent across all the collections that we develop is the amalgamation of architecture, art, textile, and culture. Then these ideas and influences are all put together to derive textiles, embroideries, prints, et cetera, forming the basis of each collection.
THE INSPIRATION
At the moment, I am working on the next iteration of BRDL, our bridal collection, where I am obviously work- ing on multiple narratives from my native state of Rajasthan, while also putting together exotic tropicals and Art Deco inspired architectural forms. The collection is going to be split into prints, embroideries, brocades, and additionally, we will be launching menswear for the first time.
JAWAI
Jawai is a collection which is very very close to me as it’s a vision of my native place that I wanted to present. Rajasthan is obviously famous for its textiles and culture and there is a certain representation already out there that everyone associates with the state. When we started working on the collection, it was initially code named ‘Jaipur Paris’, the idea being to develop a collection from a very western perspective of what Rajasthan is and what it represents. Hence, we have the Ranthambore print which is essentially a toile de jouy (French textile) representation of the Ranthambore sanctuary.
Simultaneously, we have prints like Samode, Jaisal and even Nahar, which are very reminiscent of the block-printing traditions of the state, however, again, the representation is very modern, with a global appeal. There are even architectural elements from walls of different palaces forming part of the look. Sawai on the other hand is a very graphical, contemporary representation of the famous poppy flower block-print. Then we have the Sariska trench which has leaping tigers hand-embroidered all over. The Gouache prints and embroidery draw from the unique tie and dye, folk and colourful culture of the state.
THE FASHION OF NOW
I think that as a society we are coming of age, where every individual is encouraged to voice their opinion and express their choices. I think in that very sense, every person has a keen understanding of what fashion means to them, and accordingly, I am not sure if there is any definition of what is right and wrong, especially when it comes to fashion. However, I personally feel that fashion should be a beautiful blend of sophistication, elegance, boldness, and quirk. That’s precisely what we try to achieve with each garment we design.
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Text Unnati Saini
Date 26-08-2022