Yellow, white, red, and blue tigers leap out of the green. They have big red buttons — with their faces on them — for company. This is a scene from Sariska Tiger Reserve as depicted by Kshitij Jalori, on a trench coat that is part of his Spring Summer collection. Titled Jawai, the collection is an ode to Rajasthan, his hometown. Jawai Bandh is a dam known for its birds, leopards, crocodiles... No wonder, the collection features a generous dose of Nature and wildlife.
Ranthambore on your sleeve
As the Ajmer-born and Delhi-based designer talks about his line, he fondly infuses little nuggets of information about his home state. “Sariska recently got tigers from Ranthambore to repopulate their Tiger Reserve,” he says over a call from the capital, where his workshop is located. With this line, Kshitij hopes to create a sense of wanderlust, infusing the nomadic experiences that Rajasthan has to offer. “This collection gives a western perspective of culture and festivities that happen here. Travel has been limited for the last two years and luxury holidays were not happening till this summer. We wanted to present a luxury travel perspective.”
The garments have little touches that draw from architecture in the region — for example, the three-inch wall skirting inspired finish at the bottom of a few outfits, prints as diverse as poppies (a recurring element in wall paintings) and palm leaves, and embroidery that showcases prowling tigers.
More details like fringes, embroidered scallops, and trims make their appearance on clothes that are dutifully named after national parks, gemstones and architecture. There is the Umed teal sapphire kurta pant set, Aamod and Jaisal saris, Naren peridot trench jacket, Ranthambore tanzanite pant suit, and Amer dupatta stripe, all in cotton silk, silk satin, crepes, and Italian jersey. In a bid to make the humble but ever popular kurta pants into athleisure, Jalori has introduced Italian jersey to these silhouettes. Also part of Jawai is a capsule collection of swim and lounge wear dresses. Sounds like a well-rounded holiday wardrobe.
While travel often inspires Jalori, he says ideas can come from anywhere. “What I try to do is bring about a narrative.” With so much inspiration flowing for this collection, the designer adds, “Once we started designing there was no end to it. We designed 140 outfits for Jawai but launched only 95. The remaining will be unveiled for winter.”
View the collection on kshitijjalori.com
