Pretty, lots of pastels, easy-breezy with feel-good romance. That’s the collection born out of Payal Singhal’s collaboration with Indya that is all about ‘reinventing traditional Indianwear... for the modern Indian woman’. Payal and Tanvi Malik, co-founder of Indya, chatted with The Telegraph just before the launch of the collection.

All we know from Payal’s post is that it’s a “romantic capsule”. What can you tell us about the collaboration?

Tanvi: We started talking early last year and we at Indya love Payal’s style.

Payal: When we met Tanvi and the Indya team, I was excited. For me, one of the reasons to start the Payal Singhal brand was to make an approachable and democratic fashion brand, from Day One. We have always been that affordable designer brand. I have been noticing that we have young girls especially, because the brand has got a young aesthetic, who want to buy into the PS brand, but they are looking for a price point which they can afford. Now with the pandemic, which of course we didn’t foresee, everybody is going to become a bit more price conscious.

See, we can’t even do production like they do. We take the same amount of time to do a pret piece as we take to do a couture piece. It was an exciting prospect to take the PS colours, aesthetics, silhouettes that are bestsellers over 20 years and to be able to give it to Indya’s audience. The collection has been designed from scratch. The fabrics have been designed. They are digitally embroidered and enhanced fabrics. We moodboarded for Indya and Payal Singhal together where we understood the bestsellers for Indya and Payal Singhal, the iconic signature colours of the PS brand and silhouettes. The pricing is shocking. Rs 2,000 for a separate and you can put four to six looks together for Rs 4,000-Rs 6,000. We are nervous excited, but confident about what we have done.

What can we expect?

Tanvi: We have kept in mind the environment that we are in and have worked a lot in versatility, which is anyway a Payal signature and we at Indya have also done over the years. There are a lot of prints and mix-and-match, which are all moving as separates. People have the luxury of putting together their own looks, should they want to. The silhouettes are fuss-free, easy glam, keeping in mind the upcoming wedding season. It is a budget bridesmaid collection.

Payal: The trend had anyway started of destination and intimate weddings, but now the pandemic has made it a necessity and norm. This collection is a wardrobe builder. It can be your first PS outfit or be used for gifting or something you can buy for all your bridesmaids. It is a versatile collection where it can move from your Indianwear wardrobe to your westernwear wardrobe. We are also going to show people how to wear it in multiple ways. The point is you have to make everything work hard for its money. We think Indya is the Zara for Indian clothing. It is a mainstream, high-street brand for Indianwear, which is so amazing.

Tanvi: In the millennial and Gen-Z culture, there is a certain adherence to our roots, but the massive global exposure makes you want to experiment, but also rework stuff. That is the heart of the collection for sure.

Tanvi, can you elaborate on how the millennials are shopping?

Tanvi: We have worked hard on making outfits fusion and given options to create their own looks. There is a lot of mixing and matching going on and risk-taking and forming an identity that is nonconformist. We focus a lot on real women of all sizes and body types. Payal does the same with her PS Girl campaign. We have a great synergy there.

Payal: This collaboration was organic.

Payal, you have done various collaborations. In the post-pandemic world, this is the future, right?

Payal: We will see two diametrically opposite trends. One will be more collaborative and affordable and things which in the future are sustainable, much more tech-savvy, digital, new age. On the other hand, you will still have demand for that one-off piece which is beautifully embroidered, an heirloom piece, which is why couture will never die. The experience. There will be no middle ground any more.

What are your dream collaborations?

Payal: I have my eye on some international brands and my favourite one is Adidas. I am obsessed with their collaborations, like with Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.

Tanvi: I would totally buy it.

Payal: I would love to do something in beauty too. I have done something locally with a perfume brand, but if I can do something with an international brand, like maybe a M.A.C or Bobbi Brown, how Manish Arora had done a few years back... that would be something. I’d like to do something with the S’well bottles. I use them and think they are fab and can totally imagine seeing Payal Singhal prints on all the S’well bottles.

Tanvi: For the mother brand, which is Faballey, which started it off, I would like to see an international collaboration happen in the next couple of years. Stella McCartney would be interesting there. For Indya, I would love to have another Payal collection and maybe a Sabyasachi collaboration some years down the line.

Two is company...

(L-R) Tanvi Malik, Payal Singhal Sourced by the correspondent

Payal: I would love to see something with Billie Eilish and H&M or Zara. The pandemic taught everybody to be who they are and it’s really about owning yourself.

Tanvi: I would like to see a Fenty Beauty narrative happening in India, a lot of inclusivity. The way we are moving in fashion, I would like to see that happen in beauty as well.

Payal: Raja Kumari and Fenty.

Tanvi: She can rap and the commercial will be kick-ass.