Journey from concept to collection illustrations

1. r i ya r a n k a

2. self analysis
I am private. I have high walls which need a lot of work to be taken
down. I can’t trust easily. I am super self critical. I am loyal towards
friends, family and people I love. I don’t care for a lot of people, but
the ones that I do, I fiercely protect. I love talking to people who I
hardly know, as I feel I need to know about them more than how
much I just ‘see’. I am extremely curious. I ask a lot of questions,
the stupidest ones, till I think I know everything about everything. I
am extremely punctual. I hate waiting and making people wait. I am
impatient. I cant stand slow things. I am blunt. I don’t believe in sugar
coating things for people. If I have an opinion I say it out unafraid.
I need attention from people who I care for. I cannot be ignored, it
drives me crazy. I appreciate things a lot. I have immense respect for
hardworking people. Dishonesty angers me, I need control; of things,
work, people, myself. I would put myself before anyone, I am most
protective of myself.

3. curiousity
control
honesty
protective
feisty

4. alter ego
You are what you think
you are.

5. BRIEF
Keeping in mind the self analysis and alter ego, fuelling those ideas
and thoughts into a new brand.
TO DESIGN WITH MEANING
NEED TO VOICE OPINIONS AND VIEWS
CAMPAIGNS
STATEMENTS
HUMOUR
ADVENTUROUS SIDE
SATIRICAL
MILDLY FIERCE
WEIRDNESS
NOT THE USUAL

7. ABRAND ISAn image.
abrandisan identity.
abrandisasymbol.
abrand is familiarity.
itsells clothesforthought&
fashion withapinchofsalt.
naclisareadyto
wearclothingbrand

8. BRAND PHILOSOPHY
NACL is a brand that intents to use fashion as a medium of
communication and to be something much more than just surface level
beauty. It wants designing to be a fun process, and more expressive
by making statements. It embraces the power of colour,and is unafraid
of making dangerously bold statements. Every piece of clothing from
NACL has a underlying connotation; trying to transform an ensemble
into an artwork.

10. BRAND NAME
NACL(NaCl) is the chemical name for salt. Since the brand has a
slightly twisted perception of fashion, it expects one to take it with a
little humor and fun. The name itself doesn’t sound like a ‘fashion’
brand name, as we take the idea of something so basic like salt and
glamorize it into a brand. It has no prestigious family name involved,
no reference to style or fashion, nor giving any indication about the
kind of clothes it may design. The concept of the name is a bit inspired
from Dadaism;where art could be anything, and here fashion can be
anything.

11. imagery
The NACL name is fused with its logo, the alchemical symbol of
salt. The name is reflected upside down to show the alter ego of the
brand, which may silently scream out a message to the viewer. The
red symbolizes a little rebellion, sensuality and boldness, but still
just as a hint. The predominant colour remains dusty grey, almost
symbolizing a standstill. It tries to incorporate the idea and need to
stop and stare.

12. NaClsince 2015
tag and shopping bag

13. COLOUR STORY &
MOOD BOARD

14. I want my collection to have relevance, and the best place to start that would be by starting
off with India.As I had noted earlier that India and it’s cultural practices would gain a lot of
attention due to shifting economic focus towards it, so the collection I intend to design for NaCl
is going to be inspired by work that is culturally and socially inherent and relevant to India.
Keeping in mind the predicted colour palette of bold, bright colours for A/W 2017-18, I decided
to take phulkari work as a starting point.The word itself mean ‘flower work’ yet the motifs are
not typical floral designs but very structured, geometric patterns which is interesting. Also the
colours usually used for phulkari are bold ones.If one sees phulkari isolated from its origin, it
actually is a very modern design detail, and would go very fluidly with mashups and statement
clothing.
Another element that I would like to draw inspiration from are the recent bans that have been
imposed in India. The three bans that I would be focussing on would be the beef, alcohol and
porn ban. A lot of resentment has been shown due to these recent bans by the public, and it
would be interesting to find a way for NaCl to make a statement using clothes regarding these
in subtle ways.
As a collection, NaCl would infuse phulkari colours and style in the form of prints and actual
embroidery along with ‘Ban State of Mind’ as a concept theme.
DESIGN BRIEF
BAN STATE OF MIND

17. design developments

18. design developments

19. fabric swatches
polyknitSuitingmaterial knit lycra
denimfoamliningwoolen knitcrepe

20. flat sketches

27. Phulkari work
phulkari samples

28. phulkari samples
Attempts to phulkari samples which were incorrect.

29. digital print
samples

31. visit to dharavi
Dharavi is one of the most prominent areas for leather goods and production of bags. A visit to the shops and talks with their owners
gave us an idea about the kind of bags made, the variety of materials available and the minimum requirements to produce bags in
bulk, or as samples.

32. These are few of the samples they showed us. Another notable location for leather and suede is Nagpada. It has a lot of specific shops
for buying bag accessories and individual parts too.

33. rough sketches

38. 6 inches
8 inches
basic structure sketch

39. prototype

40. parts of bag

41. structure of bag

42. final bag

44. nacl accessory collection

45. nacl accessory collection

46. swatches
nacl accessory collection nacl accessory collection

47. reflection
The project started off with understanding our own strengths, weaknesses and qualities. It made us consciously pin point things that got
us excited, things that made us sparkle. On doing this, creating a brand image was almost like creating a shadow self, an alter ego. I
wanted to make my brand bold, brave and different. I wanted my brand to have a voice, put some life into inanimate thing like clothes and
accessories. When I first started designing a collection for NACL, I was self-conflicted with the notion of creating something different while
still sticking to my design brief which was simple, ready to wear. I soon began to realise that making a statement doesn’t mean that one
has to go all the way, but just dropping subtle hints here and there do the trick. I tried to do this with playful motifs, phrases and visual
references.
The accessory collection for me was way easier. Accessories gave me an artistic freedom, which could easily translate to ready to wear,
mass produced goods too. Finally on deciding on the bag that I would want to actually sample, a lot of technical issues which I had not
thought about came up. First the bag makers at Dharavi refused to make acrylic bags so I had to rely upon the acrylic box makers who had
limited to no understanding about the making of a bag. I sourced the parts myself from Nagpada and through prototypes explained exactly
what I intended to create for my sample. In the process even though the bag turned out very close to what I had imagined it to be, I felt
the finishing was compromised. In my opinion, more experience would have definitely helped the workers, and had it been more orders
than that of a single piece, the outcome and finishing could be more refined.
Along the way I feel that building a concept and an idea was easier for me, but actually following back and doing full justice to the concept
is my biggest weakness. Yet the exposure I got through taking an unconventional path and the risk was definitely worth it. It actually made
me interact with a large array of people whom I usually would not have, and to such an extent that I was completely involved at every step
in my bag making process, so well that I could have potentially been able to make the bag from scratch.
Overall as a project I think this one was one of the most personal and self-involving projects. Even though created at an amateur level,
the attachment I feel toward NACL is almost like it is my baby. The manner in which this project made me put in a bit of myself into it
was one of my favourite parts, and it is something which I would consciously like to make a habit with every project I am involved with.
It makes one take the brand personally, which to me is important rather than just treating it like ‘work’. Other than the concept building,
the accessory designing process was one of my favourites. Another aspect that piqued my interest was trend forecasting and trend reports.
Understanding and almost dissecting every small occurrence around the world, and then connecting those dots to fashion is one of the most
fascinating things to me. It is something I would definitely want to understand better, and probably further pursue.
The project opened up my view to things beyond just designing, and even though these may not directly be linked to the actual designing
process, overall they aid and support the process making the fashion world into an everchanging yet withstanding business that it is.