Designer Shweta Kapur was very sure of design defining her life ever since she was young. Her grandfather was an architect and she grew up watching him design houses everyday after school. ‘I found it really fascinating how a few simple strokes of a pencil could give life to something. Art was always big in my house, with my father being an art collector and my cousins living and breathing art through their galleries,’ she recalls. The exposure to art early on refined her aesthetics, honed her voice in design, and she started to look ‘beyond the obvious’. We recently got in touch with her as she launched her new collection called 24-7. She tells us all about it below.
What would you say defines your practice?
Discipline and consistency. My only two rules in life are, one, no matter what, show up everyday, and two, do your best and let life happen without trying to control it. I use these two rules in every aspect of my life, from my work to my workouts.
Do you have a creative process? Take us through a day in your studio.
My creative process starts with my daily meditation. I'm an early riser and usually up around six to meditate and work out. A typical day in the studio is less creative and more business. The day usually starts with a quick follow up with each department and their day's goals. Post which, I first sit with my design team and work on the ongoing samples, and then my sales and marketing team to chart out the next steps and stock rotation. No two days are similar but it is the dynamic nature of my work that I love.
What were some of your initial thoughts about your new collection?
431-88 has always been about easy separates that can be worn multiple ways, multiple times. Unfortunately, in the Instagram age, a lot of people feel like they cannot repeat clothes. We wanted to break that thought barrier and encourage the idea of buying separates that can be paired with existing things in your wardrobe.
The whole idea behind 24-7 was to show that 431-88 can be worn all day, no matter what the occasion is or how old/young the woman. Two women wearing the same outfit will look very different because both will style it their own way. There is this element of sexy, without trying too hard. There is also a certain ease about the clothes. They feel like second skin, weightless, almost like you’re wearing nothing and they are just an extension of you.
We wanted 24-7 to talk about how dressing up can be so effortless. 'More is better' is not always the mindset one needs to take when stepping out. Simple and effortless dressing can be so much more impactful. 24-7 has everything for everyone and we've tried to capture that through our Morning, Afternoon and Night videos. Adding to our repertoire of pre-draped saris, we also introduced three new drapes: The Cape Sari, The 4 way Sari (which also functions as a dress) and the Annie Sari. The focus was to be celebratory but not limited to the traditional rules. We are talking about how a suit pant can be a go-to for a day event, how a cropped blazer is acceptable as a blouse on its own, and how we can tone down a sari with just a white t-shirt.
Can you tell us what fabric/material you’ve used for your collection and what defined that decision?
Our fabrics are one of the main reasons why clients come to us. For 24-7, we have used slinky metallic jerseys that look and feel like liquid. Our cargos and shackets are in vegan leather, which is super comfortable. We have also continued with our signature metallic plisses in our saris and co-ord sets.
And what determined the colour palette?
For the colour palette, we continued to experiment with our ombre dyes and pushing our much loved fuchsia to merge with purples and reds. And of course, no collection of ours is complete without our metallics. There is a generous serving of golds in this collection.
Lastly, what is next for you?
...to be continued.
Text Hansika Lohani
Date 28-12-2022