What does Polish folk art have to do with the new collection of Aneeth Arora’s Péro?

Designer Aneeth Arora brings the folk art intrinsic to the small Polish town of Zalipie to life in Péro’s new Autumn/Winter 2022 collection

It’s easy to recognise a Péro outfit—think colourful checks and gingham fabrics, patchwork of handcrafted, hand-painted textiles and, of course, effortlessly layered pieces of clothing that lend an air of nonchalance. It’s no wonder that Péro is so popular among creatives including filmmaker Kiran Rao, poet and author Karuna Ezara Parikh and actor Ranveer Singh, too.

Aneeth Arora, the brainchild behind Péro, has built an identity for this conscious label that makes it easy to mix and match the brand’s pieces with almost anything in your own closet. Arora has always found unique inspirations for her collections–the brand’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection ‘Up’ was a means to escape to a playful, dreamy land, while the Spring/Summer 2021 collection ‘Locked in Love’ was the designer’s creative take on the patterns of repetition that we became accustomed to during the pandemic. For this season, the brand wants to take you to the colourful town of Zalipie in Poland, where the walls of houses are adorned with colourful, traditional folk paintings. We caught up with the designer to tell us more about the collection ‘VIBGYOR,’ her idea of sustainability and her future plans for the brand.  

What inspired you to create a collection around traditional folk art of Poland?

I wouldn't say that the entire collection is built around the folk art of Poland, but yes, the prints are. Every season, we develop a print which then becomes the surface or the base of that particular collection also. We knew we were going to be working with the spectrum of colours in a  rainbow—as the name of the collection suggests. We came across this colourful Polish folk art and felt that it tied really well with the colour story that we were creating. We always do one floral print in the season, which this folk art also incorporates. It began to take shape when we placed it alongside all our fabrics that were woven in the colours of the rainbow. So we started the process by painting those motifs inspired by Polish folk art to create prints for the season.

This collection includes varying materials,  with metal buttons, 3D flowers, trims and tassels. As a textile designer, how important is it for you to keep innovating and re-inventing your use of textiles?

One basic philosophy at Péro is to have fun. In order to do that we need a lot of materials to interact with, for which we've developed a list that we use every season. So it has become like a challenge to keep innovating within the same skill set of people and the same category. The entire design team works towards overcoming this kind of creative challenge. Every season we create a new set of buttons or develop some tassels to use as trimmings or along the edges of the garment. But we’ve been doing flowers for a really long time now—all our tassels have been florals for quite a few seasons. So for this season, inspired by the Polish folk art–which features a lot of fruits and vegetables–we, too, decided to incorporate fruits and vegetables as a part of our trimmings and tassels. We made strawberries, tomatoes, cherries and blueberries. The only way we can have fun is when we have new materials and new things to play with. At Péro, we are a lot about mixing and matching, which is why every piece ends up looking unique and is different from the other.

You also have some of the coolest campaigns. Can you let us in on your thought process behind the campaign for this collection?

The process of making clothing is long drawn, intensive and isolating. It takes almost two years for us to work on a collection. But by the time the collection comes together and we start seeing the pieces, there is a story that starts building up in our heads, a direction we like to take, while making it fun for our  viewers and customers. We like to emphasise on the storytelling aspect when presenting the collection to our audience, and this time it’s about the idea of play. The famous saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” became our focus for this season. With the campaign, we thought we’d show  a game in progress, where the models are wearing the clothes while playing something or competing for something. It’s a play on how to make competition fun.

When compared to menswear and womenswear, how big is the kidswear market for you?

The market currently is tiny for us; it is only out of passion that we are doing kidswear. It is a very difficult market and so is menswear, especially in India, because there are very few stores here that cater to men’s fashion. Although we've been doing kidswear since our first season, there is only so much one can do with it—we are making clothing for newborns to teenagers, so I think we've covered the entire age group. Within kidswear, too, we’ve covered everything from dolls to accessories. But when it comes to menswear and making it more versatile this season, the highlight is unisex clothing. In our campaign shoots as well we’ve got both genders wearing the same clothes.

Today, the question of sustainability looms over every creative individual. What does sustainability mean to you and how do you incorporate it into your collections?

At Péro, sustainability is about being able to associate with the same skill sets, season after season, rather than abandoning them. When we started working with craftspersons from different parts of India, they had this notion that fashion is very short-lived and every six months, something new comes in and that they would then be abandoned. For us, sustainable livelihood is the first idea of sustainability, which we've been following till date by being associated with the same set of craftspeople.

The second thought is to be able to use our own scraps of fabric to create things which are a part of the collection and not just a recycled line. So we keep using waste materials in ways that there's not even a single scrap of fabric that goes into the landfill. It's also somehow become the brand’s forte to challenge ourselves to be able to use these leftover fabrics in clothing where people don't look at it as recycled clothing.

The third idea is to create pieces which are heirlooms–what people would pass on from generation to generation so that they never end up in landfills. You can call it handmade luxury or couture, but it’s something that people can take pride in having in their wardrobes. We've also been using only pure fabrics; we do not use synthetic fabrics which are harmful. Our dyes are always chemical-free and environment-friendly. All of these practices have formed the core of the brand from day one.

As an artist, designer and a creative individual, what keeps you going when it comes to inspirations and motivations?

There is no dearth of inspiration—whether it’s in India or overseas—every little thing ends up inspiring us. What keeps us going  is the fact that people have been very receptive and they've accepted what we do with open arms. They've shown us a lot of love and that love is the biggest motivation which makes us do what we are doing today, beca. Once you do something and gain acceptance for it, you don't doubt the direction that you are in. That’s our biggest motivation. I also feel that being in India, the rich handicrafts, culture and textiles it has to offer inspires us on a daily basis. Collaborations are also something that keep us going, whether it’s with a filmmaker, a stylist or a photographer who feels inspired and feels we can do something together. This campaign is a result of one such collaboration of creative minds. It's a new language that Péro has accepted and has worked on, because when we collaborate with alternative thinkers, we, too, get a new direction to look at.

Was it a conscious decision for you to go into this direction of being more collaborative?

Yes, it was, because I feel that everyone is an expert in their own field. If you come with the thought that I know everything and I’ll do it my way then, after a point, it gets monotonous and mundane. It's always good to collaborate with fresh minds who can also understand your philosophy and work together to create something which is in sync with the brand. It’s the end product that shows the synergy between the creative minds that have come together.

What’s next in store for you?

For this particular collection we have collaborated for the first time with Pèpè Shoes, an Italian label, just for the campaign.  We would then be doing something along similar lines for the future, where we will work on shoes as well. We are also soon going to launch a home line. Péro’s home collection has given us the opportunity of using every little piece from our previous seasons. The entire collection is recycled–we've not used any new fabrics for it. In a way, it has an archival quality, because people who know Péro will be able to spot glimpses of older seasons and fabrics in the collection that we offer. We showcased the collection at Maison & Objet, and it will retail in Europe, Japan and the United States of America as of now, but it won’t be available in India yet. We are wanting to do it the right way, when we find the right partner to do so.

Also Read: Designer label AMPM sheds its layers for a quiet evolution of a brand new identity

Also Read: Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s New York store has been in the works for more years than you know

Also Read: Model Diva Dhawan’s online platform supports small-scale, women-led businesses in fashion