The Retro Orchard’ by Ashish N Soni showcased at Lakmé Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI, was unlike anything the dapper designer had attempted in the last three decades of his career. Ashish plunged into a pool of patterns and textures that made the collection super fun, but had a certain sense of classic that the brand was synonymous with. Sporty, cool, young and cute. The looks were layered and happy, one that reminded you of Christmas and the good times. We loved the play of clashing prints as we did the fruit motifs, the plaids, the paisleys and the polkas. And, of course, the joyful colours. A quick chat with Ashish on this new direction and more.
You have never tried something like this in the last three decades. Is this a new you?
I really went back to the drawing board. There is a lot of noise in fashion now. I will not comment on good, bad... but you have to stand out in that noise. I have worked very hard. When you say it’s a new Ashish Soni, I agree with you, but I have still tried to retain my signature and things that I am known for. I have used those tools in a very different way, in terms of colour, texture and prints. Altogether, I have not used so much in the last 30 years. It’s very difficult, especially for somebody who is a minimalist to borrow from so many things. I mixed them up in a manner that’s still relevant when you watch it because it could have also gone the other way. I was riding a very thin line. While I was making it, I knew that. For example, what you saw was half of what I made. There were so many things, like an experiment, that I didn’t like, that I edited out. And, I kept doing that till I was 100 per cent sure....
How have you interpreted retro?
There were two things. I was borrowing from an era (the ’70s) and I wanted it fully retro, but a retro that today people would understand. There is a different interpretation of retro with the Gen Z and millennials. They all know about it, but how do I contemporise retro?
Tell us about the layering and textures...
That is my biggest strength, the layering part, but keeping that relevant with the textures was very difficult. Before I cut or sketched anything, I started merging those textures. Almost like the couture designers do with their lehngas... swatches are made, you are matching the blouse to the dupatta... we were doing those kinds of things. There is a sweater, a shirt which is also printed. Then there is a different jacket with coloured trousers. It took a lot to make sure that the whole look in harmony is something that people would love to wear.
First was the base colour and then what would it work with and then I did a lot of referencing from movies, from the past, from George Benson, Bruce Lee, Mick Jagger and kind of saw how they mixed things.
And you are in a red T-shirt yourself, something we have never seen you in!
It’s possibly the first time I am wearing it. In fact, I tried wearing a little more. I had done a jacket first, but I said, maybe next season! (Laughs)