Last year was all about “looking inwards” for Pallavi Singhee. “And that helps in where we want to be and what we want to look like,” Pallavi tells us when we call her to chat about Viaje, her winter festive line. Effortlessly gorgeous, it features sparkly glamour and of course her prints. A t2 chat.
What is the story behind Viaje?
It’s the story of a woman who is welltravelled and because of her travels and experiences, she picks up things that become a part of her personality and sensibility. She is somebody who knows herself very well and hence she has her own sense of style. It is ever-evolving and cannot be copied. We are emphasising on the eclectic and individualistic taste of dressing. The collection picks up inspiration from various traditions and cultures and puts it all together. It is basically refined in how it’s come together and needs an audience like that to connect with. This is an ode to that kind of a woman who is confident, carefree and she possesses an undone yet completely chic look. She is carefully careless, endearing and yet completely sexy.
Carefree and casual has been your style...
We believe in being yourself. We have done a lot of prints and there are a lot of print mixes and textures. There’s a lot of tulle and layering. Then again there is a lot of shimmer and shine and nice, sexy backs and some have plunging necklines. We also have a comparatively conservative dressing which will appeal to most of the crowd. I also have these pieces that stand out. You don’t need to follow any norms. You just need to know yourself to be able to put together something beautiful for yourself.
This really is the travel season. Any trends that you notice?
It’s a vast audience... some have an occasion and some have an outfit for every two hours. They really overthink the situation and think everybody is looking at them and they need to look a certain way. I am shocked at how many clothes people want actually. Some believe in possessing these few items that can go down generations and are happy wearing them. I would be more interested in catering to the second kind because I believe we also make keepsakes. I’d like to think that my woman loves going to a lot of music festivals, and travels light. The kind of clothes we make are morning to evening and you don’t need to change every few hours.
What are five good things to pick up this season?
You should do one of our blazers. We have a couple of bling blazers and some which are not so bling. Some of them are long, almost mid-thigh length and they can also be worn as a dress and some of them are short that can be worn with an obi belt. Some are sleeveless and have fringes that can be worn on top of anything, for layering.
We have a lot of styles which are conservative on the front and sexy on the back. Mostly everybody can carry it off and it’s good for all kinds of sizes. So, one of those backless dresses is great.
You could do separates like we have a lot of blouses and skirts. There is print on print. You could also pick them up together.
Then we have a lot of resort holiday dresses which we have layered with a tulle blouse.
Globally, which three women complement the collection’s mood and can be your muse?
I love Madonna. Marilyn Monroe. Coco Chanel. These are the kind of women who have their own personalities and have stood out from the crowd. Also, Scarlett Johansson to a large extent. Taylor Swift may be.
Fashion is increasingly becoming monotonous and everybody dresses the same way. Where do you think we are going wrong?
The problem is cloning and aping and not looking within yourself and looking outside to look beautiful. I feel once you get comfortable with your own skin, you know who you are and you dress correctly. It’s really a journey within oneself.
What do you think 2023 will belong to?
Talking about consumer behaviour, I think there’s going to be a lot of thrift shopping involved and people will look at buying second-hand and renting. They are all environment conscious and they are getting sustainable in not only using the right fabric but zero waste and trying to reuse. Then the kind of dressing that you’ll see will not be super plastic. It’s going to be more of an expression of themselves.