Payal Pratap

Launched in 2012 Payal Pratap is the eponymous label of Indian fashion designer Payal Pratap Singh. Each piece is slow-crafted with respect for her artisans.. creating a fusion line that is wearable and which follows no seasonal fashion trend in particular. In her first year as a fashion designer Payal Pratap was honoured with the Vogue Fashion Fund's runner up award. 

‘Payal Pratap’ is the eponymous label of Indian fashion designer Payal Pratap Singh. Launched in 2012, her designs exemplify the woman who is modern and independent, sensitive and appreciative of artisinal craft. She believes that what we wear is an embodiment of our personal universe and our sartorial choices reflect who we are and our lifestyle. 

The fashion designer has an interesting history. A design graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in 1994, she worked with a design house focussed on European exports post-graduation until 1999. Thereafter she joined iconic fashion brand Rajesh Pratap Singh where she worked in different capacities for over a decade until 2011. 

The rich experience inspired her to develop her own individual design aesthetic. And, love for indigenous textile craft and passion for experimenting with silhouettes and colours led her to create her own eponymous fashion label to express her unique aesthetic juxtaposing prints, hand embroideries and woven textiles. She tells Vogue: "Who is the Payal Pratap woman? She is modern, independent, yet deeply rooted in tradition at the same time.  She enjoys her freedom and space. Someone who loves her western clothes but she will never remove her Indian clothes from her wardrobe."

In her first year as a fashion designer Payal Pratap was honoured with the Vogue Fashion Fund's runner up award. And there has been no looking back since. Each piece is slow-crafted with respect for nature and her artisans.. creating a fusion line that is wearable and which follows no fashion trend in particular. The award was followed with the launch of her first store. Per Vogue: “Having a store in Delhi became very important to me because I had lots of customers asking to see a showcase of the entire collection, something that's not possible in a multi-brand store… I also wanted a place where I could market the clothes according to my philosophy.”

Sustainability is the foundation of the fashion brand. “Consciously embracing natural fibres since inception, we try to keep our carbon footprint minimal. Experimenting with a myriad Indian weaves and a plethora of rich embroideries and texturing techniques that enrich our design landscape, we strive to create something unique, with a green needle" explains Payal Pratap on her official website. "We envisage a world where craft is respected and the artisan venerated for their contribution in this creative journey. Our team is infused with a culture of zero wastage where leftover fabrics are used to create product and recyclable materials used for packaging. Let us all take this pledge to cherish what we have and tread lightly on nature."

Post-pandemic Payal Pratap held her first digital show. She tells The Telegraph: "As a designer we have to evolve and find new ways of evolving, showing, selling, of reaching out to the consumer, to the world… it reaches out to a wider audience who have probably wanted to see your show but you couldn’t accommodate people who were out of town or your buyers worldwide… Also, you can reach out to your own audience in a way that it instantly converts to sales and orders. This is like a great marketing way forward for any fashion brand. In fact, everyone is using it in a big way."

Per her official website: "Our design aesthetic embodies modern motifs in intricate embroideries, texturing and patchwork details. Our signature pieces carry cross stitch embroidery which has become a technique synonymous with the brand. Our works imbibe timelessness and serenity, bringing forth a glocal bohemian flavour with an Indian accent. Our contemporary pieces are eclectic, feature statement silhouettes, are very versatile and easy to layer."

Using local techniques and engaging local artisans, creating a wealth of opportunity for the weaving and artisanal communities spread out across the nation, fashion designer Payal Pratap creates a tangible sustainable environment for craft and techniques to flourish. The ethos of the Indian luxury fashion brand lies in perceiving India as a canvas and deriving a contemporary design language.

Payal Pratap's collections are slow-crafted creating a fusion line that is wearable and which does not follow seasonal fashion trends. The Payal Pratap woman is comfortable in her own skin, loves to experiment with fashion and is eco-sensitive. The luxury fashion brand believes in timeless elegance, is craft based and the collections showcase the rich cultural heritage of different regions of India's vast landscape.

Indian luxury fashion brand Payal Pratap retails contemporary wearable womenswear rooted in Indian textile craft and techniques. Her collections are targeted towards the global Indian woman who is free-spirited, stylish and lives responsibly. Perhaps that's why the designer tones down the theatrics and creates fluid, wearable pieces one could buy off the runway - with no tweaking.

Her post-pandemic showing at FDCI X Lakme Fashion Week was a sellout. Per Explosive Fashion: 'I loved the fluid maxis, wraps, sari dresses accented with hand-woven detailing and the wool stripe and of course the outerwear; check and wool stripe jackets lightly embellished with hand embroideries or sequins. The looks were completed with scarves, wooden buttons and hand-made wool boots.'