SHIVAN BHATIYA AND NARRESH KUKREJA

One of their latest prints, ‘BotanEye’, was inspired by the time spent at home during the lockdown, amongst plants and nature. “The entire print was designed and conceptualised by just using leaves at home”

Designer duo Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja believe that they had not experienced the conscious movement of this magnitude riding the fashion industry in the last decade. Shivan and Narresh feel positive about the impact it will have on eco-fashion system for the years to come. Not surprisingly, the duo have incorporated those thoughts into their creations.

“An amendment that we made to our brand specific to climate change is the reinvention of our swimwear category where we consciously use only regenerated ocean-waste fabric,” says the duo. “Another change we felicitated during the pandemic was to introduce knitted looms in our factory — handmade looms that aren’t industrial looms mechanised by power — to not only support and revive the handloom knitting craft clusters in India, but also help us create directly from the primary stage of the yarn.”

The designers have recently launched an art wallpaper collection. One of its latest prints, ‘BotanEye’, was inspired by the time spent at home during the lockdown, amongst plants and nature. “The entire print was designed and conceptualised by just using leaves at home,” share the designers.

“We gathered some dead plant leaves from our garden, painted, and digitally converted them into a print. Another symbol that we used to highlight the environmental heritage of our country was through our recent fashion showcase of Wilding 20s, which was held at the Aravali Range, close to Delhi. The Aravalis have been one of the most fragile landscapes of North India, and people have been making conscious efforts to conserve this.”