New Delhi: Renowned celebrity designer Narendra Kumar and designer Rajdeep Ranawat have curated RIVER Season 3, a premium multi-designer luxury brand in India, in collaboration with Amazon Fashion in association with DBS Lifestyle LLP.
After the success of the first two seasons of RIVER, this Autumn Winter season 3 collection will observe a unique collection for travel and festive wear. Season 3 is a women's only collection that will enable customers to re-imagine their favourite designer labels only on Amazon Fashion. The curated selections catering to women's everyday wear to festive wear bring a new palette of colours and prints that will add luxe and glam to festive and travel looks. The festive collection includes two new categories -- kurta/Kurtis and kurta sets along with dresses, jumpsuits, tops and trousers. The range is built to be size inclusive for all body types.
Narendra Kumar's "X RIVER" collection will focus on contemporary fashion which will be based on four stories: Floral Arabesque, Graphic, Paisley, and Geometric. Rajdeep Ranawat X RIVER collection. Ranawat's "RABARI" draws inspiration from the tribal henna motifs, nomadic influences, bandhani, and frescos from the havelis of Rajasthan. The Autumn Winter/Festive Collection has over 88 styles ranging from women's ethnic wear like kurta, Kurtis, and kurta sets to western wear like dresses, jumpsuits, blouses, and casual trousers.
IANSlife caught up with Saurabh Srivastava, Director, and Head, Amazon Fashion India, and the designers to get all the details.
What is the conceptualisation and inspiration behind RIVER Season 3?
Srivastava: The idea behind launching the brand was to transform the way India shops for fashion and to expand our portfolio with easily accessible premium multi-designer luxury wear. We have witnessed an increased penetration and uptick for online shopping from tier-II and tier-III regions such as Bhopal, Vijaywada, and Patiala with more than 80 per cent of our new shoppers from these markets. The new-age curious consumers are keen to embrace and invest in premium multi-designer luxury fashion, however, accessibility and choices were the key areas of development. The concept of RIVER was to understand how we could bring the best of designer wear to our customers that are easily accessible, convenient to shop, matches the latest trends and caters to the overall demand across the country. Therefore, RIVER was born in partnership with the DBS lifestyle.
What are the demand trends ahead of the festive season?
Srivastava: Festive shopping is a sentiment in our country, with different ethnicities that coincide to celebrate these occasions together. As we have kickstarted with Amazon Great Indian Festival, we have witnessed an exponential increase in demand for ethnic wear among women cohorts. Therefore, this year we have developed a strategy to penetrate their wishlist by providing them with designs and products that are superior in fabric quality, craftsmanship, size-inclusive, longevity and colour palettes suitable for weather and occasion wear. Indo-western/fusion wear, party/evening looks, conscious shopping and ethnic wear for various festivals like Navratri, Dhanteras, Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali are expected to be the categories of most interest this year.
Share with us your experiences and learnings from the last two seasons.
Srivastava: We received positive responses from across India, especially the tier-2 and tier-3 cities for designer collections. This has aspired us to launch Season 3 for the upcoming festive season and in alignment with the current market trends focusing more on festive collections and everyday wear for women. We want to continue to make designer-wear accessible to customers across 100 per cent serviceable pin codes through the Amazon fulfilled network.
Share with us the design ethos of this collection is -- festive/travel and what motifs you have used?
Narendra Kumar: With RIVER Season 3, we bring in a new palette of colours and styles that will add glamour to every woman's festive and travel wardrobe. My collection explores the world of contemporary fashion through three alternative trends that dominate the AW 22/23 Winter Festive Season. It takes you on a journey from the plains of Central Asia to the mountains of Peru, winding up in a boldly told graphic story. The collection will be focused on four stories: Floral Arabesque, Graphic, Paisley and Geometric. This story is told through two main colour themes: Brunt Earth in all its glory, comprising of yellow, rust, sienna, ochre, nutmeg and earthy pastel; and a return to nature in all its wonder, with greens, teals, blue and sage. The silhouette for the collection is a statement in ease, with kurtas, dresses, tops, and trousers to complete your look for the festive and travel season.
You are one of the stalwarts of men's fashion in India... why not include a men's line?
Narendra Kumar: This year, our focus is to cater to the evolving fashion demands of modern women customers to give them easy access to a wide and diverse range of designer wear, for any occasion, at a great value. We have added two new categories, including Kurtis and kurta sets, along with dresses, jumpsuits, tops and trousers to provide a complete wardrobe solution from everyday wear to festive wear. The range is designed to be size inclusive to suit all body types.
What are your style tips for the season?
Narendra Kumar: Honestly, I would always recommend wearing what makes you feel confident and comfortable. You can always mix and match your outfits to bring some freshness to your look
You have used a lot of recycled materials in your own collections, does this line focus on sustainability and the use of recycled materials?
Narendra Kumar: With the growing demand for accessible luxury, we will work on integrating sustainability to the ethos of our collections each season.
You use a lot of prints in your work, can we see more on these lines in this collaboration?
Rajdeep Ranawat: Yes, I extremely enjoy experimenting with various prints in my collection. My label is known for developing apparel with unique and famous prints. For RIVER Season 3 collection, I have introduced some exciting prints amalgamated with tribal bandhani's and the Kutch motifs.
Do you believe affordable luxury is the way forward for Indian designers
Rajdeep Ranawat: In my opinion, accessible luxury is the way forward for Indian fashion. Collaboration with Amazon Fashion help our collections reach a wider set of customers. For my label, Amazon Fashion is the right platform since it has a wide reach, and is a great platform for brands to make designer wear accessible to all.
What is your style element for this pret line?
Rajdeep Ranawat: My collection, RABARI is basically an amalgamation of motifs, culture and textiles derived from the RABARI tribes of Rajasthan and Kutch. We have used a lot of embroidered motifs right from cholis, ghagras to all the mirror work, thread embroidery and beads work has been depicted as prints in our collections. Bhandej and Bandhani tie and eye motifs have been converted into tribal elements and tribal forms which are used as prints in the base of the fabric. We've also derived motifs from the frescos of Havelis in Rajasthan, artworks on all those Havelis have been made into patterns to form the base of this collection.
What are your style tips for the season?
Rajdeep Ranawat: It is essential to pick the right outfits for the festive season. Choose pastel hues as they add elegance and regal air that will go perfectly well with the mood of the festival or go all out with tribal motifs and Indian flair. Secondly, the only thing that enhances a look is the way you style and accessorise it. So, choose the right accessories that will bring out the festive vibe in your outfit.