Marrying the ease of contemporaneity with the timelessness of classic textiles and embroideries, Kshitij Jalori has designed his first bridal line. Signature Kshitij. The collection stands out for its fuss-free gorgeousness. The Telegraph chatted with Kshitij on the making of the collection and more.

Congratulations for your first ever bridal line. Have you been toying with this for a while?

Well, we have stayed away from bridal for a long while especially because we wanted to have a very clear understanding of what bridal meant to us while also defining the brand language and aesthetic. However, every year we had been doing custom order for brides and felt that perhaps the time was right now to bring out our first ever bridal collection.

BRDL looks gorgeous. What’s your ethos when it comes to a bridal range?

I have always loved focusing on very fine details, textiles and techniques while engaging with fashion and yet keeping the overall aesthetic minimal, clean and graphic. I think it’s really the same things that came together to even develop the bridal collection. There is a very detailed use of textiles, very fine hand zardozi and hand-painted floral prints inspired from the Qajar era, which form the major part of the collection. The overall aesthetic still remains clean and minimal, graphically strong, ensuring that the clothes get captured beautifully and enhance the appeal of the wearer.

We love how you have married gorgeousness with minimal aesthetics. What kind of a bride do you have in mind?

A person who is well-travelled and has experienced various cultures across the world and yet, has a deep sense of connect, affinity and respect for their own culture. Hence, when it’s her chance to be the bride, she wants a piece of her culture but also wants to represent the culture in modern daylight. The KJ bride is someone who is bold, smart, has a keen sense of fashion, is extremely self-confident, doesn’t feel the need to adhere to societal norms of perceived beauty and this reflects in her sartorial choices.

What changes are you increasingly noticing in the bridal market?

We have consciously stayed away from the bridal sector till now because I wanted to have a distinct vision and aesthetic before launching the bridal line and also took my time to understand what really works for the bridal market. We had been making a couple of lehngas meanwhile for friends and family though since the very beginning. Another reason that this became the perfect time to launch the bridal line was because post-pandemic there is a slight shift in the way some brides have started approaching their bridal outfit. The ceremonies have got smaller and more intimate with lesser people and hence, quite a few brides today want to wear outfits that can be reused and hence want something more bold, statement and classic and yet not extremely heavy.

What are bridal classics?

I think a classic brocade sari is a must-have for every bride and, of course, today you have some who even choose to get married in them or at least one definitely has a classic brocade sari as part of their trousseau.

What are your top picks for new-age brides?

Well, there are quite a few from our BRDL line and our classic range that I would definitely pick out. The Marrakesh makes for a perfect Sangeet lehnga whereas the Brooklyn stripe chevron lehnga or the Samarqand lehnga is more aimed at Mehndi. Simultaneously, as I already mentioned, a classic brocade sari is a must-have and is woven in real zari or we also have the option of the pashmina brocade shawl, which is a unique textile and serves multiple purpose.

I have always loved focusing on very fine details, textiles and techniques while engaging with fashion and yet keeping the overall aesthetic minimal, clean and graphic. I think it’s really the same things that came together to even develop the bridal collection. There is a very detailed use of textiles, very fine hand zardozi and hand-painted floral prints inspired from the Qajar era which form the major part of the collection — Kshitij Jalori

What else is the brand planning this year?

We are currently working on our summer line, which is going to be one of our biggest collections till date. Prints are obviously going to be the highlight of the collection but there is another unique range which will form an important part of the collection within the prints section. Other than that, the collection is going to be further divided into ARCO (clothing inspired by architecture, a year-round cross-seasonal cross-collection line), there is going to be an extension of the bridal line as well as part of this collection and we will also be introducing the swim and resort category for the very first time. So this collection put together will be really big. We will be launching two more collections along with two other capsules this year, which will be focused on the categories I mentioned above with the possibility of introduction of menswear also looking likely.