The cut masters

As Delhi-based, ready-to-wear fashion brand Lovebirds turns 10, its founders reflect on the challenges of going international

- Pooja Singh

This meet-cute goes back more than a decade. Gursi Singh was walking around the lanes of south Delhi's Hauz Khas village, taking a break from designing the decor for a friend's cafe, when he stumbled upon a store with a sign that read "Love Birds". Intrigued, he went inside. From 1930s long army dresses and 1950s French hats, to Fendi Baguettes, Comme des Garcons shirts and Akris handbags, vintage pieces from across the world were displayed on old-style wooden hooks on the wall and in metallic hangers. It was among India's early vintage fashion stores. And then he met the store owner, Amrita Khanna, a London College of Fashion graduate. It was love at first sight.

After a year of dating, Khanna asked Singh, a graphic designer, to help her with sourcing fabrics. They had no concrete plans but wanted to create "something intelligent, something comfortable, something Amrita would wear, and something the market didn't have," recalls Singh. They scoured markets across Delhi, from Chandni Chowk to Okhla, for fabrics. Five months later, after spending ₹3-4 lakh of their savings, they created 20-odd women's clothes that became part of the first collection of their premium ready-to-wear brand, Lovebirds.