All izz well. Remember the joyous song from 3 Idiots that talks about living life stress-free? Every pero show is an expression of the same philosophy. Aneeth Arora’s compelling storytelling through her artful creations is a narration of life in all its bloom, full of positivity. At the core, it channelises a relentless pursuit of a kind of joy that reminds you of your childhood. Carefree and unbound.

One look at the chequered white-and-red pillars, balloons and the colourful cushions that comprised the mise en scène at her recent showing at Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI in Delhi, you could feel the same warmth that is perhaps synonymous with a threadbare sweater that your grandmother knitted for you. Intimate and a forever-yours memory.

A textile graduate from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and a fashion graduate from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Aneeth’s label clocks 15 years this year. The childlike innocence that’s pero, with it’s indigenous techniques and a strong sense of self made up ‘HELLO pero’ too, a collaboration with the iconic Hello Kitty, that turned 50 this year.

Aneeth laid out her fair ground with picnic vibes for the SS’25 showcase. Her narrative sparkling, made of the beautiful and free-spirited as well as the dramatic and edgy. One that spells independent and feisty minds.

Replete with Hello Kitty staples like cherries, strawberries, apples, cupcakes, milk cartons and colours like pinks, reds, blues, and sunshine yellow, the collection featured pero signatures like layering and their surface ornamentations on shirts, dresses, skirts, trousers, and jackets. There were florals, sailor stripes, beadwork, fabric origami, tassels, hand crochet, applique, patchwork, on Chanderi, mashru, silks and Jamdani. Hello Kitty charms, socks, bags and hats added to the energy. We especially loved the hair accessories. Statement and how.

Aneeth in a chat with t2, looked back at the making of HELLO pero. Excerpts.

When did the talks start?

I think we started talking back in March about it. They were looking for a suitable partner to collaborate with for their 50th anniversary with someone in fashion from India. That’s how they thought of Pero.

Were there pointers?

It was about first understanding mutually if we both to collaborate with each other and of course we jumped at the opportunity. It resonates with the childlike philosophy of the brand. At pero, we believe in keeping the child within us alive because that’s what makes us happy. And, nostalgia always keeps us going. I felt it as a perfect match.

Our world aligned in terms of our philosophies also. The bow on the head of Hello Kitty signifies bringing people together. Pero also always says spread the love. They believe that one should be loved and one should love others because if you want to be loved, you’ll have to be nice to others. There is an innocence in their philosophy. Hello Kitty doesn’t have a mouth. So, it conveys that action speaks louder than words. At pero too, we believe in letting our work speak for itself.

Of course there were protocols because Hello Kitty is a global icon. We took baby steps in understanding each other and it finally became a beautiful collaboration.

Hello Kitty is such an integral part of our childhood. Were you yourself a little overwhelmed with nostalgia while designing the collection?

My memory of Hello Kitty was the same... a lunch box or a water bottle or a school bag, but then I got caught up with the brand (pero) and lost touch with it, but when I was watching a documentary during Covid, and I saw the toys that made us, that is when I connected back and remembered.

It was even more fascinating to see the journey of Hello Kitty from back when it started in the 1970s to what it is today. It refreshed all my school-going memories, but I feel I have liked Hello Kitty as an adult more than as a child.

The collection is so much fun...

We worked with a fantasy character and we tried to transport you to a fantasy world in the real city of Delhi. Hello Kitty has this beautiful world around herself, a world of candies, cakes, strawberries, apples, cupcakes, the iconic telephone.... This season it was a chance to show the world of Hello Kitty to the people through our eyes. So, a lot of it is reflected in our clothes and a bit of how we showcased it.

There is a term we coined for the season called ‘Cottage core Kawaii’. We’ve been doing grandma core and French knot embroideries, the hand techniques of knitting, crochet, embroideries that a mother would teach a daughter. This season we looked at cottage core, which is a DIY culture where even if you don’t know how to embroider or knit, you could cut up a crochet tablecloth and make a shirt for yourself. It’s happening a lot with the Gen Z and the maker community.
We did cottage core in the pero way and we were already working on the cottage core philosophy when Hello Kitty came by. A lot of things might remind you of a Calcutta bedsheet, the typical white embroidered one and then we studied the world culture around it and we realised even in Hungary, there are a lot of bedsheets embroidered with hands.

‘Cottage core Kawaii’ also easily lends it to Harajuku street-style dressing, the kawaii side and not the punk or the dark side. I also feel the Harajuku style of dressing is a unique way where people dress to express themselves.

Where does the magic lie when it comes to pero and Hello Kitty?

Why people resonate with pero and Hello Kitty is because there is this innocent side and it’s always amazing if people can keep the child within them alive. Nostalgia makes people happy. Whenever we make our clothes, there is an element of joy and fun, even though our textiles are very serious and we start research two years in advance and we make the handwoven textiles in various parts of India, traditional textiles like ikat, brocades from Benaras. When it comes to showing it to the world, we look at the lighter side of it. Deep within, we all have a child and when you see that unfold in some form of expression, everybody resonates with it.

Aneeth, how has the journey of 15 years been for you?

It’s again a childlike approach. Kids do what they want to do and don’t really care about what people will think. When we started clothing, we were blamed for bringing anti-fit into the fashion world (laughs). Everybody wanted to wear form-fitted clothes. Fashion was all about occasion wear. ‘Aneeth’ also means one who doesn’t go by rules and I think we’ve been bending rules from Day One on a ramp where you are expected to show flamboyance, surface ornamentation, fitted clothes, over-the-top glamorous things. We went for a subdued look. The initial collection we made was handmade, natural dyes, anti-fit clothing and we called it comfort clothing. I felt there was this gap that fashion was not meant for the day, what if someone wants to feel special through the day and for us, it was not about standing out in the crowd, but feeling good about what you are wearing.
Since then we’ve followed our instincts. We don’t follow forecasts at all. Our season sometimes begins with just one colour. There was one season where I just wanted to do pink winters because winters are dark and gloomy. So, there is no pressure of proving ourselves to anybody. It feels like yesterday to me when I launched the first season. We’ve just been expressing ourselves without any inhibition.
Over these 15 years, I feel we have also evolved as a brand. If I look at myself, I was this person who was questioning things and trying to understand whether what I am doing is right or wrong, but we have understood that we are on the right path and if we stay true to our sensibilities and put in all the love we have into our clothing, then there will not be a dearth of love that we’ll get from people. Every smile we see becomes a mini milestone. The little things gave us the confidence to keep going... people coming to look for us in the flat tucked away, where we used to work from.

How do you think the new-age Indian is dressing?

I always thought fashion was about following a trend and ape what you see on the ramp. Now, it’s become about personal styling and expressing oneself. Nobody is aping anyone and that makes each one unique and everybody is finding a voice and becoming conscious about what they are wearing and who they are wearing.