Confessions Of A Serial Collaborator

For Priya Ahluwalia, two minds, two ideas and two businesses will always be better than one. The designer, who delights in teamwork, talks to AKANKSHA KAMATH about the art of joining forces for the love of fashion

- AKANKSHA KAMATH

IT’S EXCITING WHEN the collaboration you’ve been scrolling and saving for can finally be added to cart. From a designer’s perspective, however, it’s a curious waiting game—from ideation to creation, things can swing either way. If all goes well, two fashion houses could fuse to produce the glowing ‘it’ handbag of the season or things could really go belly-up, resulting in a marriage that ends in conscious uncoupling. In the case of the London-based Indian-Nigerian menswear designer Priya Ahluwalia, who has linked arms with over four collaborators in one year, collaborating is an opportunity for her four-year-old brand Ahluwalia to flex any dormant creative muscles. Across tech, sustainability and high fashion, Ahluwalia shares why collaboration is the key to moving forward in the fashion industry.

Akanksha Kamath: From Ganni to Mulberry and then Microsoft, these are varied companies with distinct directions. What draws you to your collaborators? Do you find any links between them?