Designer Meghna Sihag of the Szabo Sihag duo vividly recalls being utterly in awe of her grandmother’s voluminous Haryanvi ghagra or wide gathered skirt and borla, headpiece, growing up. She found herself leaning towards the crafts early on. Her mother and aunts were fluent in hand painting and embroidery, fuelling her drive and sensitivity towards the art. Across the world, about five thousand miles away, Krisztian Szabo grows up in Hungary, deeply inspired by the designers of the ‘90s and early 2000s, thus giving way to his interest in fashion illustrations and design. While Meghna’s textile and silhouette draping finds itself deeply influenced by Haryana and Rajasthan’s traditional wear; Krisztian’s print and textiles are stimulated by his adventures across the globe and the knowledge he collects about varied art forms and cultures with each journey.
What exists today, in the form of Szabo Sihag, is a potpourri of cultures so distinct from one another through sharp tailoring and mixing of different fabrics and colours. “With our upbringing within the Indian and Hungarian heritage and our learning of design skills in London’s multicultural environment, we wanted to create a modern feminine dialogue between two cultures that focuses on the female body and has an openness and empowerment within it.” Evoking clean lines and a certain sensuality with their minimal aesthetic and pops of colour, the label aims to not only revive classic artistry and craftsmanship on the verge of extinction but also ensure a sustainable outlook is given precedence to at all levels from design to production. “Fashion is a legacy of a time that spills over to the future and thus sustainability for us is the basis to be a better brand and designer.”
The Szabo Sihag aesthetic creates a combination of contemporary cuts with surrealist prints and Indian craft-based embroidery for the woman equally unafraid to adorn herself with a unique style. Deeply aware of how the fashion of now should include diversity, consumer activism and individuality, the duo is hopeful for long term changes in terms of body positivity and conscious practices.“The industry needs to adopt a more sustainable approach and be more considerate towards people who work in the industry. With a little more kindness, this industry can become less damaging to the environment”.
As a young label, dealing with the pandemic has been challenging for the duo but over a period, they have developed three principles they swear by; learn, adapt and continue to grow. “It is a challenging environment for new labels like us but from the very beginning we knew we needed to act quickly on changes in consumer behaviour while staying true to the brand identity. We think the pandemic has also brought plenty of new opportunities for us with the shift in customer shopping behaviour.” Currently Meghna and Krisztian have their plates full, working tirelessly to expand their customer base and designing their next collection.
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Text Unnati Saini
Photography Aman Kumar
Makeup Banny Choudhary
Model Anoushka Virk
Date 31-03-2022
