Mother-son duo Seema Gujral and Ashray Gujral, founder, Dash and Dot, recently joined hands for a special edit called ‘Seema Gujral for Dash and Dot’. Known for her bridal wear, while Seema’s label will clock three decades soon, Ashray’s is a new baby, founded in 2020. The collaboration comprises a fusion of delicate embroidery and fuss-free silhouettes, making them great for parties. Ashray chatted with t2 on the making of the collection and more.
Congratulations on this unique tie-up! Whose idea was it to collaborate?
We have been informal collaborators for a while now. Coming from different worlds, there is a curiosity that is built over a period of time to try and marry the aesthetics, and to challenge ourselves to create something that was an amalgamation of both of our styles but still entirely new. Dash and Dot saw a gap in the international ready-to-wear space, inspired by the storied textiles and embroideries of India. It was a natural progression for us to find Indian couture brands that stood out on their own and had a visual aesthetic and a language which we could incorporate into a ready-to-wear space. Who better than Seema Gujral to work with on this project wherein we pick up her signature couture elements, with those meticulous embroideries and a very unique approach to Indian couture and translate that into a ready-to-wear space, and bring it to a different category of customer who’s more comfortable wearing a pantsuit or a co-ord set every day or even at occasions.
What were Seema’s inputs like?
The exciting part of a collaboration is of course sharing your aesthetic visions and experience. While both teams had inputs at every stage, the embroideries, and design sensibilities were all my inputs while maintaining the strong visual language of Dash and Dot. As such, the silhouettes we designed were on the lines of Dash and Dot. At first, we both had different ideas for the collaboration. I wanted to take Dash and Dot’s direction, and they wanted to take mine… but as is true with all successful collaborations, in the end, we both coalesced around a vision for the collection.
How did you go about incorporating the same with your aesthetics?
The question was, how to create a collection that is true to both brands and excites both customers and yet presents something new. At every stage, be it the colour chart or embroideries, the techniques came from Seema Gujral but the visual language was very much about Dash, be it the silhouettes we designed or visualised how the collection would be presented. Obviously in her case, she has a vast amount of experience in the industry and she has been working for so many years, her design brain is unique, and her experience and her technical knowledge are super sound, whereas for me it’s still a relatively new journey, so I had a lot to learn from her.
The collection has a dream-like vibe. Where did you shoot it?
There is an intentional dreamy quality woven into the design of the clothes. The idea was to take the SG ethereal drama and marry it with the functionality and ease of Dash and Dot. As the collection came together I visualised a very specific landscape to set and tell the story. The romance of a waterfall, dark black sand beaches and sculptural rock formations added a poetic backdrop to an already romantic collection. This collection was shot in Iceland, a carbon-neutral country where I have previously shot my ‘Iceland 2022’ collection and fell in love with the country. Travelling through the length and breadth of the country, the brand took inspiration from its ever-changing landscape.
What were Seema’s inputs for you when he started out with Dash and Dot three years back?
The thought process and directions were entirely different from the beginning. She comes from couture, while I come from ready-to-wear. Her key input was to never lose the passion I had on the day I launched Dash and Dot. Decades into the business, she approaches each day with the same excitement.
What have you imbibed from your mother over the years?
One of my key learnings through this whole process has been more on a temperamental level just watching her work from close quarters, to see how grounded she is, how deeply involved and passionate and at the same time how temperamentally even she remains. She doesn’t freak out or lose her temper. That has been a keen learning for me to see that you can be passionate without being all over the place.
What are your future plans for the label?
For Dash and Dot, we envisioned creating an accessible and sustainable brand that was both functional and fashion-forward. Dash and Dot’s identity has been based on accessibility, conscious and functional designs, which also makes for the inherent elements that ignite the foundation of each collection created and we aim to continue growing ahead with this vision. We also plan on launching our stores from this year onwards, to take the brand to a larger customer base who aren’t comfortable shopping online just yet.