Pero

Luxury label Péro By Aneeth Arora is a seamless blend of rich narrative with sustainable fashion, retail appeal and a theatrical element for the runway. It is a visual treat. And this isn't simply founder and fashion designer Aneeth Arora's premise of using handcrafted handwoven indigenous material and working with specialty artisans. It also attests to an experimental spirit and globally relevant design aesthetic.

‘péro’ which means ‘to wear’ in Marwari- the native language of Rajasthan- was founded in 2009 by textile and dressmaker Aneeth Arora. The sustainable luxury label inspired by Indian craftsmanship employs local artisans and indigenous textiles and textile techniques materials to handcraft pieces that fuse a sense of tradition with a contemporary globally relevant design aesthetic. Age-old methods of dyeing, intricate needlework and rich hand embellishment elevate timeless silhouettes. The Indian-ness of péro is rooted in the textile process, where materials pass through the hands of one craftsperson to the other, carrying forward the Indian tradition of hand-crafting and creating pieces that are at once unique.

A textile graduate from National Institute of Design Ahmedabad and a fashion graduate from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Aneeth Arora refers to herself as a textile and dress maker. What fascinates and inspires her most is the styles of the local people of a particular region, which makes the collections unique, stylish and real trend-setters. The resulting garment evokes a sense of culture from the region it originates. This culture communicates with wearers in a way that she looks equally at ease in the streets of Paris or London as she does here in India. The look is not about a particular age or season, it is about a mindset, a willingness to incorporate the effortless style of the locals.

Aneeth Arora's approach to design is rooted in sustainability, storytelling and collaborating with artists across the world. Per Vogue: "Designer Aneeth Arora's repertoire of utilising deadstock, upcycled fabrics and converting them into their most prettiest forms has been a game-changing format of using Indian artisanship for contemporary silhouettes. Before the rise of cottagecore, péro’s happy-go-lucky confections have existed to include a bit of joy and innocence into the everyday rotation of fashion in India. ‘I think we all have a child within us, and nostalgia has always been a part of what we create at péro, which we feel is a great way of connecting with our wearers… Our process is really rigorous and intense and we feel when our storytelling is fun and light it is a great balance’ she says."

Aneeth Arora believes in limited edition pieces that transcend trends and makes them in limited quality so the wearer feels special. It was only a few years after péro was launched that the designer began appreciating the hand embroidery strengths of Indian artisans handcrafting her meticulously embroidered pieces. “Some of them take over a month for ten craftspeople to make. We take our own time to make these pieces and only in limited numbers so that if a person acquires one, they not only appreciate its craftsmanship but also its rarity" she tells The Voice Of fashion. "Customers then value and cherish these as heirloom pieces, contradicting the theory that maximalism encourages materialism, hoarding, lack of taste and a general consumerist mindset of senselessly buying more and more."

Recently pero turned ten and marked the milestone year with a beautiful exhibition- Time To Love- which pays an ode to the time taken to handcraft each collection. “Time to Love is a documentation of what we have done in the last 10 years. From the first button to the trims we’ve explored, we have reserved everything and that’s what I want to share with people today” she tells Vogue. "The purpose of the exhibit is to involve people in the process of our garment making. We want them to be a part of the journey hence we haven’t used a lot of garments. Instead, you will find hanging textiles and buttons. It's all about [raising awareness] of the effort that goes in making the clothing…"

Textile and fashion designer Aneeth Arora's mission of utilising deadstock, upcycled fabrics and transforming them into the most beautiful globally- relevant womenswear has been a game-changing format of using Indian textile techniques and craftsmanship for contemporary silhouettes.

Péro By Aneeth Arora envisions seamlessly blending a rich contemporary design aesthetic with sustainable fashion steeped in a particular region be it Rajasthan or Bengal – and of course a theatrical element for the catwalk. True to her vision, her collections till date focus on the joyous commitment to the handmade, the idea that something human-scaled can look and feel chic, special and globally current.

Péro By Aneeth Arora is always about seamlessly blending a rich narrative with sustainable fashion and a theatrical element for the catwalk. The fashion designer uses handcrafted handwoven indigenous material and working with specialty artisans to brig to life womenswear rooted in an experimental spirit and globally relevant aesthetic.

Pero Spring Summer 2019 is the perfect showcase of how the designer masterfully combines indigenous textiles and techniques with sustainability and a globally relevant design aesthetic. Per Explosive Fashion: "The collection deftly mixed motifs made by Kadhwa weavers of Banaras on the loom while weaving the fabric; hand-woven tartans and stripes; hand embroideries; French knots; flowers handcrafted using beadwork and cut work; crocheted edgings and beaded fringes; handcrafted ceramic buttons; upcycled flip flops and headgear handcrafted by paper sculptor Carlos Urgese. Yet, despite the disparate material, there was unity in the tunnel-vision subtext to this admirable exercise — the joyous commitment to the handmade."