style...

ai.ko,  mumbai, may 2012

young designers in mumbai. i have no clue. no clue.

i am  not into fashion. not because i do not like it, just because of priorities. spend my money and time differently. but i like to think about it, if there is related or spare time.

ai.ko is a little label run by a young woman, aarti kalro.  aarti kalro is indian, studied in london and worked in new york as embroidere volunteer, came back because of illness and now has her own label. her clothes are between indian and western style. amazing material and simple design. but amazing material.


her store is small, in a little corner , going though a gateway, next to other shops. the store is white, on one side the clothes on hangers in a warddrope. wardrope just a structure. on the side.

clothes are divided. by western, by indian. some of the shops are buying more western stuff, some more indian.

botto, bandra, mumbai 2012

she is producing for shops. every time just one piece per collection. collection are not big, everything is unique. the store comes looks at her catalogue and decides, tells her what to do and she does it.

one thing i learned. in india it is about production. not really. but at least with the designers i met. they have there own style but are ok with adoption. copying. compromisse.

they are aware of designers, but that's later. now it is about production, and earning money. fair enough. but different.

botto, bandra, mumbai 2012

in europe i think i guess, and actually i do not know because i just know it from hearing and talking, that the designers are more about the individual creative approach. i need to express myself, develop something and then people look at it. they buy it or not. i do not change so much. normal clothes everybody is buying is not produced for sale. maybe some, but very rarely.

difference is. in india you can still make and sell tailor made clothes. it is cheap. production. textiles. people go anyway to a tailor. so shops can buy clothes from local designers. they are not as cheap, but cheaper than other western brands. plus they have there own shops. do not need any retail space.

in germany production is expensive. no normal person would buy it. cause it is more expensive than good clothes in germany. so if you are a designer, you either just design for a big company or you design something which is worthwhile. and then sell it for a lot.

that is my theory.

botto, bandra, mumbai 2012

nitya loves pattern.  a t shirt without pattern is boring shoes in black a no go. she loves sarees but they are horrible unpractical, now. when she would be 40 she would wear it. like her mum. her mum wars a saree every day. except one time, when they were out of town, hiking and her kids, nitya, forced her, because of falling, because of walking. she was wearing it and she looked in it so out of place.

botto is another label. they are producing everything around textiles. from clothes till furniture surface. everything. in the center of there interest: combination of western and indian quality. sustainability. very easy to describe. projects till now are very limited. one for a big company where they reused old material and combined it with craftsmanship of woman. another where they are getting absekt form traditional techniques handmade using modern colours and design.

botto, bandra, mumbai 2012

the concepts are simple but so effective. sustainability, fusion. finding a compromiss between generations.

i was seraching for a long time for that. i do not like balck or white, i like grey. something in between. if i can choose. i like that


just in case you fancy to see more of them.. or something...

https://www.facebook.com/ai.kobyaartikalro
http://botto.in/