Designers of the Week Pankaj and Nidhi on sustainability, a change they'd like to see in fashion & more

Today marks the last day of the on-ground joint fashion week. The FDCI and Lakme Fashion Week has been taking place in Delhi and one of the designers who presented their latest collection, Marbella, spilled the beans on the designs, inspirations, sustainability and more.

Inspired by a holiday mood or feeling, Marbella was inspired by the idea of wanting to be in a beautiful resort town such as Marbeya, a scenic port city in the southern coast of Spain, they tell Pinkvilla. "Marbella’s about wanting to be on a luxurious holiday with vibrant clothes and just wanting to have a good time and enjoying oneself and being back to life and living it to the fullest," Pankaj, who is a NIFT Graduate and was head of design at Rohit Bal for 10 years, before founding his label with his wife and colleague Nidhi.

Florals and summer go hand-in-hand with each other and the same was visible in the duo's latest pieces that were presented on the runway and saw Sanjana Sanghi play showstopper for the colourful show. "Just like you can't take away flowers and natural beauty from nature, I think to take away flowers from fashion would be kind of actually like really taking away the happiness from it, so it's something that has been said and done. That’s why the designer’s challenge makes it more interesting, it's to use a motif which has been done a lot but to do it differently and to do it beautifully and in sync with one's design ethos is the real challenge," says Nidhi. And while the duo's new collection is inspired by the Marbeya region, they have kept their signature style intact with geometric patterns and lots of drama!

Sanjana Sanghi in Pankaj and Nidhi

Designer collaborations are a big thing now and one brand they're itching to collaborate with is Birkenstock. "As designers, we have a few things in mind in terms of making clothes but we sometimes feel like there's a lot that can be done with patterning into bags and accessories etc.," says Pankaj who completed 15 years of his label this year.

The duo has also made it a point to highlight sustainability with their collections. To them, it is not just a trend. "It's not just a conversation for the moment, it's something that needs to come into our very existence and our process needs to be driven by the idea of generating as much little waste and amounting to practices which are kinder to the planet. It's really the tip of the iceberg we're beginning to do that in our own factories, we're trying to keep minimal waste. The waste that we generate, we try and reuse in the collections we try and use more earth-friendly materials such as recycled polymer plastics are converted into amazing recycled fabrics, we're using a lot more of that in our collection, a lot of handloom fabrics which are earth friendly, reducing waste in packaging it's still just the beginning but we're at least getting started to do these things and imbibe it in our consciousness," Nidhi quips with all seriousness.

Karisma Kapoor in Pankaj and Nidhi

Sara Ali Khan in Pankaj and Nidhi

Kiara Advani in Pankaj and Nidhi

And if they could, we're curious to know about a change they'd like to see in the industry. "It would be to perhaps make it a bit more seasonless and not have to make changes very frequently. So just like an author writes a nice book in a year, one should be able to make a new collection once a year and not necessarily have to change it every three months or three weeks or six weeks," Panjak chimes and adds that pressure to keep creating new things can be harmful to the environment as well. "Collections and themes need to be a bit more transcendental; the whole cycle needs to be slowed down a bit and made more patient, forgiving and calm; it doesn't have to be so hurried and rushed," adds Nidhi.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu in Pankaj and Nidhi

Shraddha Kapoor in Pankaj and Nidhi

Before signing off, the duo dish out a piece of advice to budding designers who look to them for inspiration. "Be patient and work hard and don't expect overnight results. I think currently with exposure to smartphones and gadgets and instant gratification it's just very counterproductive for the young generation. They expect results to happen overnight to come overnight and that's just not making them either get happiness or get results or get productivity," Nidhi says. "It takes years and years of hard work, patience and perseverance to get anywhere so please don't be in a rush," Pankaj agrees before they sign off.

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