October 5, 2023 • 21 mins
Owner of the eponymous London-based label, Lele’s designs marry her passion for formal draping with casual ease. Her work is rooted in her own cross-cultural background, examining her Indian and British identity all through a feminine lens. A winner of both the 2020 LVMH Prize and 10 Asian Designers to Watch Award, her work has been featured in exhibitions worldwide. In this intimate interview, Lele talks about her path in a post-Covid world and reveals behind-the-scenes details about her collection for The Tour ‘23.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to VS Voices. I'm Amanda Decadney. So Priya Lele
is a London based designer and a member of this
year's London House. In our interview, we talk about post
lockdown sentiment, being a small business owner, and what designing
for the female form means to her. Hi, how are
you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I'm going to apologize in advance because I have a
dog and she gets very jealous when I'm on anything
other than her. Than her, yeah, so if I put
her anywhere else, she might make a fuss. So I'm
sort of trying to just if she pops in and
we'll just, of course.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Well, it's totally fine. And I have dogs and children
which also might come in to tell me that somebody
needs something, So if that happens, please excuse me.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Fine, all right, let's go. So.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I'm so curious to learn more about you and about
your experience with this VS project that you've been working on.
I obviously researched you and your work, and I feel
like your designs really resonated with women post lockdown. What
about the current moment do you think you're responding to
(01:21):
with your work?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I think you know, we were all kind of locked
away for two years. So I think that now people
are more kind of inclined to want to go out,
be seen, I think, express themselves maybe more than when
we were all kind of at home in sweatpants.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Maybe.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So I think that perhaps that sort of sense of
going out or celebration or exploring yourself in a way,
I think that's probably why my work has had more resonance.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So although I quite like the idea of worrying one
of your outfits to the supermarket, I do think that
could also be a fun experience.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I mean, I guess you could start.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
The thing is I tried to make pieces that can
be quite versatile in there. Although they look very they
look very they are like very like sheer or skeletal
in their sort of esthetic. You can really mix and
match how you wear them. I think it just depends,
you know. I have friends that wear them, wear pieces
of mine that would be quite colorful or shit, but
they'll put a T shirt underneath it.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
In my over jeens was exactly you can kind of
like downplay and mix it.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's that's how I would
do it to the super much. That's how you would
do it, Yeah, totally, so as a woman who started
my career in the UK.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yes, I remember.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, I'm curious how you would describe the current climate
for creatives in the UK.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Well, speaking specifically about London obviously starts where I'm based.
I feel that London's always had a sort of very
much an open vibrancy and a sort of openness to
emerging talents and creatives. Obviously, economically that's very challenging right
now because we're in a recession and it's an expensive
city to live in. But there are so many kind
(02:59):
of amazing platforms that you can showcase your work within
this city, especially within fashion. There are so many like
emerging schemes for designers and platforms that way.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
And what sort of obstacles have you experienced with being
a creative having a career. I guess out of London.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
You know, just having a small business is so difficult. Yeah,
And I set my brand up pretty much straight out
of my master's course, and I kind of didn't really anticipate,
you know, I had no idea really how hard that
was going to be.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
You can't know until you do it. No, Like I'm
a designer and then suddenly you're right, you're like running
a business and everything that goes with that.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, and you're like, oh, I'm also an accountant and
I'm also a CEO.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Oh and I'm also hr Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
I know. Right, It's a whole skill set that you
just didn't know you needed. So I want to talk
a little bit about your upbringing because I love reading
about your mom and how you've taken inspiration from her
relationship to fashion. When you look at your childhood, what
are some of your early exposures to fashion.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Well, my mum says that I was always really really
opinionated about clothing.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Basically from when I was like three.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
She would take me to Marks and Spencers and I
would be really really specific about what I wanted to
find and what i'd be looking for, and she'd feel
like that doesn't actually exist, and I'd.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Be like, right, well, I need those so amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
She really really funny about it, So I guess I
was always very interested in clothes. My parents were also
very interested in clothes, so the kind of conversations at
home about dress were quite important, I think, obviously because
they had moved over from India.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
My dad in the late seventies and then my mum
in the eighties.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I guess that that sense of assimilation and belonging comes
from you know, an identity really comes from what you wear,
especially back then pre internet, you know, and so you know,
my mum would always talk about how, you know, they're
both come from a medical family, so you know, they
were dressed very smart basically all the time. My dad
(05:13):
was super into like savile row tailor ring and all
of this sort of stuff. So we'd have those conversations.
And then myself, I was always quite you know, I
guess I've always been interested in music and sort of
subculture or references. I guess I would have lots of
friends who skated or did this or that were in bands.
(05:34):
And I would back then again before the Internet, I
or just at the beginning of that sort of point
of the Internet.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Maybe isn't that crazy that we can talk about pre internet.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Pre Internet, and you know, I would do all my research.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I'd be into like a specific type of music, genre
of music, or kind of subculture, and I would buy
every magazine going that was related to it, and I
would like, look at what everyone was wearing. I would
go and I would like make those looks from like
different shops. I would style myself accordingly, and then you
would have your sort of tribe of friends.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Oh it sounds so fun. I'm feeling like a longing
and a sadness that that doesn't it don't work in
the same way anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
It's not the same.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And like now you can go into What I find
crazy is you can go into any shop and you
can buy any sort of like look yeah, which.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I find really weird.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Like actually at that time, I was researching and I
didn't realize, but I was like, Okay, I'm really into
like punk or I'm really into goth and a bit
of this and a bit of that, and I would
go and like buy like specific piece and mix it
with that.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
You put your looks together yourself. You didn't buy a
whole outfit at one shop.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
No, And it'd be like, Okay, maybe I want to
wear this like sheer dress and I'll layer it with
this thing, and like I would like play around, and
I feel like that's what made you sort of feel
like part of something again, and it kind of gives
your sense of identity definitely. So I guess those are
my first sort of memories of being interested in clothes
and fashion and you know, understanding the way that that
(07:00):
could sort of define you. And I guess also thinking back,
feeling different always, you know, I always thought obviously Indian.
I was growing up in the Midlands in England. I
always felt different. But then I was like, well why
not just be really well, I was always into different
stuff anyway, so I just was always.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Like leaned into it massively.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yah.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, what was your relationship like to India when you
were a teenager, because you as interested and inspired by
your culture as you are today.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I think I didn't actually understand how I was feeling
about it.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I would go because.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
We went to visit family, and I would always go,
and I would always collect things, bring things back by
weird shoes or clothes or some random things, bring them
back to the UK.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
As a child, I didn't enjoy going to India.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
I think that I found it so overwhelming because again
it was just like, you know, I would leave home UK,
it would be in this country that was like sohectic,
so different. You know, I had relatively quite quiet home life,
and then I'd suddenly be like in this country that
was sweaty, noisy, colorful, chaotic, surrounded by all these family
(08:11):
members that I didn't know, and I would just be
sort of overwhelmed and find the whole thing quite strange,
and it was just a bit culture shark essentially.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, I was going to say that sounds like I mean,
it is. It is such a huge difference in culture.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Do you think the experience of Indian women in the
UK has changed over the years?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
You know, I went to Mumbai recently. I haven't been
to Mumbai maybe since I was twelve, and I went
for a work trip and there's so much happening there creatively,
and there's so many amazing women doing amazing things there,
great designers, great artists, kind of like it's happening. And
I think that in that sense, you know, that was
(08:55):
also weird for me because I'm not used you know,
I'm used to going to a need to visit my family.
And then I really felt like quite a tourist in
that context, you know, because I was like, Wow, like
Mumbai is really it's really happening here.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
What do you think shifted? What do you think expanded there?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I think there's just a lot of amazing creativity coming
out of and do at the moment, I think. You know,
I've been a few times for work in the last
few years. I shot a few campaigns over there.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that because
you did shoot a campaign there in twenty nineteen. Was
it in order? I went to campaign? Why did you
choose to do that?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Well?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
My second campaign was a book project I did with
a photographer called Jamie.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Hawksworth, who's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
He's incredible. Yeah, I love his work. Oh, I'll send
you a book.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Oh please, I would love that, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Of course.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
And we shot my spring Summer twenty collection in my
father's hometown and then we did a kind of photography
project off that as well and made a book. And
then we did another campaign, but I did that with
an Indian fine art photographer called Sorab Pura and that
was in Goer. With that particular campaign, and that was
just bring summer twenty three. We felt as though we
(10:07):
wanted to go back to India and revisit this concept.
But with the project with Jamie was quite because my
dad passed away when I was twenty, so when we
were visiting that town, you know, it was quite a
romantic sort of nostalgic feeling project.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And we knew that we wanted to go back to India.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
We felt like we wanted to sort of show another
aspects which wanted to do something a bit more raw.
So in terms of that's kind of how that project
came about in Goa and it was shot at night
in the sea.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Oh wow, how do I see that?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
It's very cool.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
It's like because so Rab's work is very much you know,
it's documentary and it's fine art photography.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
He's got this amazing book called The Coast. It's so good.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
We were really looking at that as the kind of
main reference point. So it kind of slotted my work
into his world, which I thought was really interesting. And
again working with an Indian photographer was really really cool.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
And it sounds like if his work is very reportage
and raw with your design, that would be a really
interesting mix to put together.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yeah, you know, like lots of flash at night and
the colors really sort of like sang.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
It was quite quite cool.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You said in an interview that you designed for a
broad range of people and that there are some kind
of signature codes that people really want to follow. Can
you talk a little bit more about what those design
details are and what does that mean when you say
you design for a wide range of people.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Yeah, So basically a lot of what my brand is
known for is its use of draping.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Pretty much in terms of the silhouette.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
My design point of view is very much about this
culture clash of mixing Indian reference points of silhouette with drape, color,
cut and juxtaposing them with sort of Western subcultural references
or more westernized clothing. Reference is recognizable references, but draping
(12:03):
is the sort of thing that I'm extremely passionate about
and I love to do. When I said that I
designed for a broad range of women or people, it's
because most of my drape and most of my fabrics
are stretched, even though they don't look like it. For example,
if you think about the versatility of Asari, it's like
a big square of fabric.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
It can be worn in so many different ways.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Although my dresses are sometimes set, there are kind of
adjustable components to them, so they can be adjusted how
you like to the wearer's body, so you kind of
have flexibility within the fabric of movement of shape.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
If your body changes. It works very much with your body.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
But then you also have these kind of moments where
you can like change them to how you like.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Gosh, you and Donna Karen would have a great conversation
because she's all about draping and yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
I just got a vintaged on a Karen dress. Actually,
there you go. Yeah, yeah, that's her thing.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
You also made a really serious effort to bring women
of all sizes into your show, yes, and ensuring that
your designs can move and work for women of all sizes.
Why is that something that was important to you?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I think it's really important to showcase diverse shape, diverse casting,
diverse because you know, that's life that's reflective today and
that is literally life.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
But it was, you know, it was important to me to.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Show that the designs work on all shapes of all
body types. And also because I feel, you know, I
felt as well that not only is that just my
own personal preference, but it's also the way that BS
is moving, how it's operating now as we're showcasing real women.
But in that respect, you know, and that was kind
of important to me, and I wanted to make sure
(13:50):
that it was.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
It was a really great casting for that reason.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, well, okay, let's talk a little bit about VS.
You were asked by them to create a collection that
was in spe hired by the female form. Yes, what
did you visualize when you heard that brief?
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I felt like there was an obvious synergy because obviously
my work is really fundamentally based in that kind of
way of thinking.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So I was initially just sort of like, well, okay,
this is perfect.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
We can work with a lot of the similar sort
of reference points that I naturally would be drawn to
for my own projects, but we can sort of amplify
it in another way. Obviously it's a smaller collection than
what I would naturally do with my own brand. I
just thought, okay, well, how do we sort of max
this out? How do we sort of make this really
really strong? Because it's eleven looks, we have to like
(14:43):
make this like visually really tight.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
How many do you normally have in a collection?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Sometimes like twenty two, twenty three looks? I do smaller.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
My collections are small, but obviously it's half the size
of what I.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Would normally got it.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I was looking at kind of ancient Indian sculpture. Basically,
I was looking at these old sculptural images of goddesses
of female figures, and we were looking at these beautiful
like stone classical sculpture, and like I was looking at
old Moochal paintings, and then I was looking at sort
(15:16):
of nineties references, and I was sort of bringing them together,
like what nineties references? Oh gosh, I've got like some
I mean so many things. I was looking at sort
of old some old McQueen. I was looking at like
I've got like pictures of like Stellar Tenant in a
bikini and a pool. You know, like just good, powerful
women and great imagery. Oh, I'd love to see your
(15:38):
mood board. Oh yeah, we can send it to you.
You love to see that, massive, massive, massive Who.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Were some of the women from that era that inspire you?
You mentioned Stellar Tenant.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Was amazing, obviously, Kate Moss.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I mean it was just it's just like there's so
many amazing people like Chloe seven.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
You there's just amazing, amazing women.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Oh yeah, yeah, look, I that was Yeah, that's the time.
That's the time. It was definitely a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
And I mean the thing is, though, there's so much
amazing imagery from that type.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
It's before there was social media and there was a
lot more freedom to you didn't worry about expressing yourself
with what you were wearing or what you were doing
or saying.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Because everything was punk.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
It wasn't going anywhere. It was everyone was. It was
staying in the room, so that you can take a
lot more risk as opposed to now it's like, oh,
this is going to be documented and shared no matter
what I do or say or put on by somebody.
People don't take risks in the same way because they
know it's going to last forever exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
And I think that was that's like the beauty of
that time.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And obviously I was growing h I was young, like
I was, you know, I was born in nineteen eighty seven,
so when I was influenced so much by that time
because that's what I grew up seeing. I grew up
seeing that sort of freedom and that sort of punk
attitude in so many people.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
And it wasn't just if you dress a puk like
everyone was.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Sort of No, it was an energy.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
It was just a thing.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
And obviously, you know, working with an amazing stylist on
this project, Camilla, and she's like legendary, legendary nineties, you know,
it was it was just brilliant and so many. It
was really funny because obviously some of some of my
favorite editorials from that time sold by her, so she
(17:25):
just kind of understood the vision quite quickly as well
what I was trying to do. But I'd love to
show the mood board. Yeah, it's great, It's massive.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I would love to see it. How was that working
with a stylist that you had so much respect for?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Honestly, it was amazing. I got so much from that collaboration.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
It was amazing.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I was too excited when I found out that she
was going to be involved.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
It was just really great. I really really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, what do you hope people will take away from
seeing this collection that you've designed for VS?
Speaker 3 (17:57):
And I hope they'll love it as much as I do,
because it's really really good. I could it's so beautiful.
I think that when it all came together at the end,
it was just it was just perfect. It was really
it gave me goosebumps, it was. I was really really
happy with it, and I hope that people love it
and think that it looks effortless and natural, because you know,
(18:21):
each look was so super fitted to each woman.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I almost envisaged.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
And this is kind of how I think even with
my you know, my own collections, that I could imagine
the woman wearing that look, you know, if you going
out or going to dinner or something, and I felt
like every single look was just perfect for every single
person within that lineup.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
It kind of felt seamless in a way.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
It sounds like the experience has been a really good
one for you.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I loved it.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It was amazing. Yeah, I really really loved it. It was
really fun, It was really good.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
What were some of the highlight moments for you that
really stick out with this process?
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Honestly seeing the show, doing the filming, it was just
still am coming down from that moment that was extremely amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
I can't really articulate how amazing that was really.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Can you describe a little bit about what listeners will
be seeing when they watch this?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Yeah, so, I mean it was filmed in this amazing
space in Barcelona, a sculptor's home. It was very kind
of like sparse, minimal concrete. With my show, the women
were walking through water, and the cinematography and the lighting
was just amazing. It was very cinematic, quite moody. I
(19:38):
would say, and I think the use of light was
really special. The creative directors wanted to sort of work
with lights so from day to night, and it was
shot from sort of three different angles.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It's quite amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yeah, well, people are really curious about how VS is
reimagining their historic show, and so I think people are
very curious about what's been done and what they're going.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
To see exactly I think.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I mean, I can only speak for the kind of
component of my show as I was there for that filming.
I think it was extremely sophisticated. So I'm looking forward
to seeing it all together.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Actually, well, thank you so much for your time. I
am so excited to see what you've done and really
look forward to seeing the end results.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Thank you so much. Check me too.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
You have been listening to VS Voices, the official companion
podcast to the VS World Tour. My thanks to today's guest,
and if you love our show, please comment, like, and
follow us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and
as always, you can join me Aman did Decademy on Instagram.
VS Voices is part of Victoria's Secrets, ongoing commitment to
(20:57):
creating positive change for women to get We are amplifying
the voices and perspectives of women from all backgrounds, and
please remember that sharing stories brings us closer together. Thank
you for listening.
Welcome to VS Voices. I'm Amanda Decadney. So Priya Lele
is a London based designer and a member of this
year's London House. In our interview, we talk about post
lockdown sentiment, being a small business owner, and what designing
for the female form means to her. Hi, how are
you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I'm good.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I'm going to apologize in advance because I have a
dog and she gets very jealous when I'm on anything
other than her. Than her, yeah, so if I put
her anywhere else, she might make a fuss. So I'm
sort of trying to just if she pops in and
we'll just, of course.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Well, it's totally fine. And I have dogs and children
which also might come in to tell me that somebody
needs something, So if that happens, please excuse me.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Fine, all right, let's go. So.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I'm so curious to learn more about you and about
your experience with this VS project that you've been working on.
I obviously researched you and your work, and I feel
like your designs really resonated with women post lockdown. What
about the current moment do you think you're responding to
(01:21):
with your work?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I think you know, we were all kind of locked
away for two years. So I think that now people
are more kind of inclined to want to go out,
be seen, I think, express themselves maybe more than when
we were all kind of at home in sweatpants.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Maybe.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So I think that perhaps that sort of sense of
going out or celebration or exploring yourself in a way,
I think that's probably why my work has had more resonance.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So although I quite like the idea of worrying one
of your outfits to the supermarket, I do think that
could also be a fun experience.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I mean, I guess you could start.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
The thing is I tried to make pieces that can
be quite versatile in there. Although they look very they
look very they are like very like sheer or skeletal
in their sort of esthetic. You can really mix and
match how you wear them. I think it just depends,
you know. I have friends that wear them, wear pieces
of mine that would be quite colorful or shit, but
they'll put a T shirt underneath it.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
In my over jeens was exactly you can kind of
like downplay and mix it.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's that's how I would
do it to the super much. That's how you would
do it, Yeah, totally, so as a woman who started
my career in the UK.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yes, I remember.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, I'm curious how you would describe the current climate
for creatives in the UK.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Well, speaking specifically about London obviously starts where I'm based.
I feel that London's always had a sort of very
much an open vibrancy and a sort of openness to
emerging talents and creatives. Obviously, economically that's very challenging right
now because we're in a recession and it's an expensive
city to live in. But there are so many kind
(02:59):
of amazing platforms that you can showcase your work within
this city, especially within fashion. There are so many like
emerging schemes for designers and platforms that way.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
And what sort of obstacles have you experienced with being
a creative having a career. I guess out of London.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
You know, just having a small business is so difficult. Yeah,
And I set my brand up pretty much straight out
of my master's course, and I kind of didn't really anticipate,
you know, I had no idea really how hard that
was going to be.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
You can't know until you do it. No, Like I'm
a designer and then suddenly you're right, you're like running
a business and everything that goes with that.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, and you're like, oh, I'm also an accountant and
I'm also a CEO.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Oh and I'm also hr Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
I know. Right, It's a whole skill set that you
just didn't know you needed. So I want to talk
a little bit about your upbringing because I love reading
about your mom and how you've taken inspiration from her
relationship to fashion. When you look at your childhood, what
are some of your early exposures to fashion.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Well, my mum says that I was always really really
opinionated about clothing.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Basically from when I was like three.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
She would take me to Marks and Spencers and I
would be really really specific about what I wanted to
find and what i'd be looking for, and she'd feel
like that doesn't actually exist, and I'd.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Be like, right, well, I need those so amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
She really really funny about it, So I guess I
was always very interested in clothes. My parents were also
very interested in clothes, so the kind of conversations at
home about dress were quite important, I think, obviously because
they had moved over from India.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
My dad in the late seventies and then my mum
in the eighties.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I guess that that sense of assimilation and belonging comes
from you know, an identity really comes from what you wear,
especially back then pre internet, you know, and so you know,
my mum would always talk about how, you know, they're
both come from a medical family, so you know, they
were dressed very smart basically all the time. My dad
(05:13):
was super into like savile row tailor ring and all
of this sort of stuff. So we'd have those conversations.
And then myself, I was always quite you know, I
guess I've always been interested in music and sort of
subculture or references. I guess I would have lots of
friends who skated or did this or that were in bands.
(05:34):
And I would back then again before the Internet, I
or just at the beginning of that sort of point
of the Internet.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Maybe isn't that crazy that we can talk about pre internet.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Pre Internet, and you know, I would do all my research.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I'd be into like a specific type of music, genre
of music, or kind of subculture, and I would buy
every magazine going that was related to it, and I
would like, look at what everyone was wearing. I would
go and I would like make those looks from like
different shops. I would style myself accordingly, and then you
would have your sort of tribe of friends.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Oh it sounds so fun. I'm feeling like a longing
and a sadness that that doesn't it don't work in
the same way anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
It's not the same.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And like now you can go into What I find
crazy is you can go into any shop and you
can buy any sort of like look yeah, which.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I find really weird.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Like actually at that time, I was researching and I
didn't realize, but I was like, Okay, I'm really into
like punk or I'm really into goth and a bit
of this and a bit of that, and I would
go and like buy like specific piece and mix it
with that.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
You put your looks together yourself. You didn't buy a
whole outfit at one shop.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
No, And it'd be like, Okay, maybe I want to
wear this like sheer dress and I'll layer it with
this thing, and like I would like play around, and
I feel like that's what made you sort of feel
like part of something again, and it kind of gives
your sense of identity definitely. So I guess those are
my first sort of memories of being interested in clothes
and fashion and you know, understanding the way that that
(07:00):
could sort of define you. And I guess also thinking back,
feeling different always, you know, I always thought obviously Indian.
I was growing up in the Midlands in England. I
always felt different. But then I was like, well why
not just be really well, I was always into different
stuff anyway, so I just was always.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Like leaned into it massively.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yah.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, what was your relationship like to India when you
were a teenager, because you as interested and inspired by
your culture as you are today.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I think I didn't actually understand how I was feeling
about it.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I would go because.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
We went to visit family, and I would always go,
and I would always collect things, bring things back by
weird shoes or clothes or some random things, bring them
back to the UK.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
As a child, I didn't enjoy going to India.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
I think that I found it so overwhelming because again
it was just like, you know, I would leave home UK,
it would be in this country that was like sohectic,
so different. You know, I had relatively quite quiet home life,
and then I'd suddenly be like in this country that
was sweaty, noisy, colorful, chaotic, surrounded by all these family
(08:11):
members that I didn't know, and I would just be
sort of overwhelmed and find the whole thing quite strange,
and it was just a bit culture shark essentially.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, I was going to say that sounds like I mean,
it is. It is such a huge difference in culture.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Do you think the experience of Indian women in the
UK has changed over the years?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
You know, I went to Mumbai recently. I haven't been
to Mumbai maybe since I was twelve, and I went
for a work trip and there's so much happening there creatively,
and there's so many amazing women doing amazing things there,
great designers, great artists, kind of like it's happening. And
I think that in that sense, you know, that was
(08:55):
also weird for me because I'm not used you know,
I'm used to going to a need to visit my family.
And then I really felt like quite a tourist in
that context, you know, because I was like, Wow, like
Mumbai is really it's really happening here.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
What do you think shifted? What do you think expanded there?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I think there's just a lot of amazing creativity coming
out of and do at the moment, I think. You know,
I've been a few times for work in the last
few years. I shot a few campaigns over there.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that because
you did shoot a campaign there in twenty nineteen. Was
it in order? I went to campaign? Why did you
choose to do that?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Well?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
My second campaign was a book project I did with
a photographer called Jamie.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Hawksworth, who's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
He's incredible. Yeah, I love his work. Oh, I'll send
you a book.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Oh please, I would love that, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Of course.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
And we shot my spring Summer twenty collection in my
father's hometown and then we did a kind of photography
project off that as well and made a book. And
then we did another campaign, but I did that with
an Indian fine art photographer called Sorab Pura and that
was in Goer. With that particular campaign, and that was
just bring summer twenty three. We felt as though we
(10:07):
wanted to go back to India and revisit this concept.
But with the project with Jamie was quite because my
dad passed away when I was twenty, so when we
were visiting that town, you know, it was quite a
romantic sort of nostalgic feeling project.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And we knew that we wanted to go back to India.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
We felt like we wanted to sort of show another
aspects which wanted to do something a bit more raw.
So in terms of that's kind of how that project
came about in Goa and it was shot at night
in the sea.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Oh wow, how do I see that?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
It's very cool.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
It's like because so Rab's work is very much you know,
it's documentary and it's fine art photography.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
He's got this amazing book called The Coast. It's so good.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
We were really looking at that as the kind of
main reference point. So it kind of slotted my work
into his world, which I thought was really interesting. And
again working with an Indian photographer was really really cool.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
And it sounds like if his work is very reportage
and raw with your design, that would be a really
interesting mix to put together.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yeah, you know, like lots of flash at night and
the colors really sort of like sang.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
It was quite quite cool.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You said in an interview that you designed for a
broad range of people and that there are some kind
of signature codes that people really want to follow. Can
you talk a little bit more about what those design
details are and what does that mean when you say
you design for a wide range of people.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Yeah, So basically a lot of what my brand is
known for is its use of draping.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Pretty much in terms of the silhouette.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
My design point of view is very much about this
culture clash of mixing Indian reference points of silhouette with drape, color,
cut and juxtaposing them with sort of Western subcultural references
or more westernized clothing. Reference is recognizable references, but draping
(12:03):
is the sort of thing that I'm extremely passionate about
and I love to do. When I said that I
designed for a broad range of women or people, it's
because most of my drape and most of my fabrics
are stretched, even though they don't look like it. For example,
if you think about the versatility of Asari, it's like
a big square of fabric.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
It can be worn in so many different ways.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Although my dresses are sometimes set, there are kind of
adjustable components to them, so they can be adjusted how
you like to the wearer's body, so you kind of
have flexibility within the fabric of movement of shape.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
If your body changes. It works very much with your body.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
But then you also have these kind of moments where
you can like change them to how you like.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Gosh, you and Donna Karen would have a great conversation
because she's all about draping and yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
I just got a vintaged on a Karen dress. Actually,
there you go. Yeah, yeah, that's her thing.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
You also made a really serious effort to bring women
of all sizes into your show, yes, and ensuring that
your designs can move and work for women of all sizes.
Why is that something that was important to you?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I think it's really important to showcase diverse shape, diverse casting,
diverse because you know, that's life that's reflective today and
that is literally life.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
But it was, you know, it was important to me to.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Show that the designs work on all shapes of all
body types. And also because I feel, you know, I
felt as well that not only is that just my
own personal preference, but it's also the way that BS
is moving, how it's operating now as we're showcasing real women.
But in that respect, you know, and that was kind
of important to me, and I wanted to make sure
(13:50):
that it was.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
It was a really great casting for that reason.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, well, okay, let's talk a little bit about VS.
You were asked by them to create a collection that
was in spe hired by the female form. Yes, what
did you visualize when you heard that brief?
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I felt like there was an obvious synergy because obviously
my work is really fundamentally based in that kind of
way of thinking.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So I was initially just sort of like, well, okay,
this is perfect.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
We can work with a lot of the similar sort
of reference points that I naturally would be drawn to
for my own projects, but we can sort of amplify
it in another way. Obviously it's a smaller collection than
what I would naturally do with my own brand. I
just thought, okay, well, how do we sort of max
this out? How do we sort of make this really
really strong? Because it's eleven looks, we have to like
(14:43):
make this like visually really tight.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
How many do you normally have in a collection?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Sometimes like twenty two, twenty three looks? I do smaller.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
My collections are small, but obviously it's half the size
of what I.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Would normally got it.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I was looking at kind of ancient Indian sculpture. Basically,
I was looking at these old sculptural images of goddesses
of female figures, and we were looking at these beautiful
like stone classical sculpture, and like I was looking at
old Moochal paintings, and then I was looking at sort
(15:16):
of nineties references, and I was sort of bringing them together,
like what nineties references? Oh gosh, I've got like some
I mean so many things. I was looking at sort
of old some old McQueen. I was looking at like
I've got like pictures of like Stellar Tenant in a
bikini and a pool. You know, like just good, powerful
women and great imagery. Oh, I'd love to see your
(15:38):
mood board. Oh yeah, we can send it to you.
You love to see that, massive, massive, massive Who.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Were some of the women from that era that inspire you?
You mentioned Stellar Tenant.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Was amazing, obviously, Kate Moss.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I mean it was just it's just like there's so
many amazing people like Chloe seven.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
You there's just amazing, amazing women.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Oh yeah, yeah, look, I that was Yeah, that's the time.
That's the time. It was definitely a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
And I mean the thing is, though, there's so much
amazing imagery from that type.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
It's before there was social media and there was a
lot more freedom to you didn't worry about expressing yourself
with what you were wearing or what you were doing
or saying.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Because everything was punk.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
It wasn't going anywhere. It was everyone was. It was
staying in the room, so that you can take a
lot more risk as opposed to now it's like, oh,
this is going to be documented and shared no matter
what I do or say or put on by somebody.
People don't take risks in the same way because they
know it's going to last forever exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
And I think that was that's like the beauty of
that time.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And obviously I was growing h I was young, like
I was, you know, I was born in nineteen eighty seven,
so when I was influenced so much by that time
because that's what I grew up seeing. I grew up
seeing that sort of freedom and that sort of punk
attitude in so many people.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
And it wasn't just if you dress a puk like
everyone was.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Sort of No, it was an energy.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
It was just a thing.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
And obviously, you know, working with an amazing stylist on
this project, Camilla, and she's like legendary, legendary nineties, you know,
it was it was just brilliant and so many. It
was really funny because obviously some of some of my
favorite editorials from that time sold by her, so she
(17:25):
just kind of understood the vision quite quickly as well
what I was trying to do. But I'd love to
show the mood board. Yeah, it's great, It's massive.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I would love to see it. How was that working
with a stylist that you had so much respect for?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Honestly, it was amazing. I got so much from that collaboration.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
It was amazing.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I was too excited when I found out that she
was going to be involved.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
It was just really great. I really really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, what do you hope people will take away from
seeing this collection that you've designed for VS?
Speaker 3 (17:57):
And I hope they'll love it as much as I do,
because it's really really good. I could it's so beautiful.
I think that when it all came together at the end,
it was just it was just perfect. It was really
it gave me goosebumps, it was. I was really really
happy with it, and I hope that people love it
and think that it looks effortless and natural, because you know,
(18:21):
each look was so super fitted to each woman.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I almost envisaged.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
And this is kind of how I think even with
my you know, my own collections, that I could imagine
the woman wearing that look, you know, if you going
out or going to dinner or something, and I felt
like every single look was just perfect for every single
person within that lineup.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
It kind of felt seamless in a way.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
It sounds like the experience has been a really good
one for you.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I loved it.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
It was amazing. Yeah, I really really loved it. It was
really fun, It was really good.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
What were some of the highlight moments for you that
really stick out with this process?
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Honestly seeing the show, doing the filming, it was just
still am coming down from that moment that was extremely amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
I can't really articulate how amazing that was really.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Can you describe a little bit about what listeners will
be seeing when they watch this?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Yeah, so, I mean it was filmed in this amazing
space in Barcelona, a sculptor's home. It was very kind
of like sparse, minimal concrete. With my show, the women
were walking through water, and the cinematography and the lighting
was just amazing. It was very cinematic, quite moody. I
(19:38):
would say, and I think the use of light was
really special. The creative directors wanted to sort of work
with lights so from day to night, and it was
shot from sort of three different angles.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It's quite amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yeah, well, people are really curious about how VS is
reimagining their historic show, and so I think people are
very curious about what's been done and what they're going.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
To see exactly I think.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I mean, I can only speak for the kind of
component of my show as I was there for that filming.
I think it was extremely sophisticated. So I'm looking forward
to seeing it all together.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Actually, well, thank you so much for your time. I
am so excited to see what you've done and really
look forward to seeing the end results.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Thank you so much. Check me too.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
You have been listening to VS Voices, the official companion
podcast to the VS World Tour. My thanks to today's guest,
and if you love our show, please comment, like, and
follow us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and
as always, you can join me Aman did Decademy on Instagram.
VS Voices is part of Victoria's Secrets, ongoing commitment to
(20:57):
creating positive change for women to get We are amplifying
the voices and perspectives of women from all backgrounds, and
please remember that sharing stories brings us closer together. Thank
you for listening.
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