October 13, 2019 Asmita Aggarwal

Science of Love

Blue, anti-fit and powerfully feminine is their mantra, even as Gursi and Amrita of Lovebirds embark on launching a home line soon

By Asmita Aggarwal

They are truly lovebirds, even though they come from totally different backgrounds they have found a meeting place. Amrita Khanna and Gursi Singh, four years and two daughters later—Cara and Dali, have made their label, a name that conjures up images of anti-fit, one size fits all, kind of clothing. Though the duo reiterates, it is not “androgynous” but powerfully feminine meant for a woman on the go. In this fast-paced world, you have no time to doll up and Lovebirds understands that maybe that’s why there are always jackets on dresses or dresses with collars in their repertoire.

A Chandigarh boy, Gursi met the London-returned Amrita when she ran a successful vintage shop in Hauz Khas village, he studied mass communication, while she went to London College of Fashion. Amrita took over her mother’s small clothing business to completely change it and make young women fall in love with her age and proportion-defying clothing until Gursi joined forces. Both brother Aman, who runs Clayman, and sister Amrita stayed and worked in England for ten years, but knew that India would be their final destination.

LOVEBIRDSS

Now Lovebirds wants to get into smaller markets, as the requests from Lucknow, Raipur, Surat, and Ahmedabad are increasing. “A buyer is aspirational and they want to a product that is somewhat relevant and also makes them look different,” explains Gursi. Interestingly, the new customer doesn’t really care about trends or fitting in, she is smart and intelligent, so she doesn’t fan her insecurities by going form-fitting rather, she embraces freedom from proportion.

Interestingly, Lovebirds works on crafts more than embellishments, which gives rise to various blends, from silk and linen, wool and silk, and this year tencil with silk, almost a satin texture, working with clusters in Bengal, Kullu, and Ahmedabad where they weave according to specific requirements. To this, they add block printing, kantha, screen printing, as well as threadwork. However, the epicentre remains circles, dots, stripes, and checks, making linearity a constant. “There is this inherent love for geometry and architecture, but we never compromise with the purity of the ensembles, staying away from any complication,” he says.

LOVEBIRDS 3

Shapes remain elementary, which is natural not intentional, and SS’20 veers towards athleisure, where the hues of the sky, sand, sea, and foliage are replicated in tonality along with bold mixes of black and white. Their long-standing love affair with blue is a given along with strong graphics that come from Gursi’s heady sketches. What makes them a successful combo is how they have divided their roles with Amrita taking care of finances and Gursi the creative lead, but “the final call is with my wife on all things,” he admits with a smile.

What’s new and in the offing are not accessories but a lifestyle offering – a carpet, mat, night chair, things to enliven your home. “Right now we are at the conceptualisation stage, the products need R & D and testing to see their response to the market which may take a year,” he concludes.

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