Priyanka Raajiv is a designer based in Pune who brings ageless culture into the modern world. Her design aesthetic and the clear vision of the architecture of a silhouette is what sets her apart. Moreover, she contributes to promoting the Indian handloom industry since the conception of her label. Her ensembles also hold a badge of responsible fashion.
She began designing outfits with a ‘Zero Waste’ approach long before the trend began. From the beginning of her labor, she held a certain respect for the fabric she used, and her label saw immaculate precision to avoid waste.
Textile experimentation made her work stand out. Incorporating these fabric pieces seamlessly into her new ensembles and, tailor-making new looks take forward an heirloom piece through generations.
The vivid detailing and hand embroidery in every collection showcase the profound thought and effort behind the handspun threadwork so integral to her design philosophy. Her latest collection, Praana, is based on the consciousness that breathes within us, and the understanding that life is a circle, and it grows through nurturing thought and understanding.
We are surrounded by this energy everywhere. It is why spaces affect us; we inhabit our clothes every day. Praana, the Autumn-Winter 2019 collection is inspired by this collective energy that we possess and share.
Any waste fabric piece from the studio is put back in the ‘Iraada’ box to be used and integrated into a collection that embodies thoroughly studied design sensibility. This is turned into wardrobe pieces that become essential
In ancient China, there was a belief that anything broken must be put together using gold. This belief transcends the very idea of discarding anything.
In our daily stress and hectic schedules we often dismiss our negative thoughts and stagnant mindset. Aspiring to Chi, or Pranayama, the meditative state of understanding oneself, Priyanka Raajiv endeavors to unveil the illusion of separation, putting together seemingly unconnected pieces of fabric together in a puzzle that astounds you with its creativity and diligence.
Praana is a collection of carefully curated pieces, handcrafted to build a flow out of a mosaic of crude textile weaving and finesse of undiluted design. Upcycled pieces, like dupattas and scarves, become heirlooms in the process of recycling what is old into the artistic element of the new. With painstakingly earned expertise, the repurposed studio textile becomes intuitively structured through intricately embellished handwork.
The outfits rejuvenate your mind in with its texture and exquisite drapes and folds. It turns the complexity of fabric patchwork into a singular movement.
Praana at its core symbolizes the metamorphosis of energy forms. From breath to texture, and cold mist to the layers of fabric, it demonstrates that what appears cast aside is, in fact, the same thing in a different form. What appears new and fresh is a deliberate transformation.
This is the transformation that occurs at the Priyanka Raajiv studio with the discarded studio fabric in upcycling every piece.