A closer look: Ahluwalia

Although this years LVMH prize competition could not be completed under normal circumstances, the finalists that had the win in sight are still to be remembered and recognised with the same familiarity as years prior. Priya Ahluwalia, one of this year’s finalists, is one of those. Completing her Masters in Menswear in 2018, Priya’s namesake brand, Ahluwalia, shot straight to the limelight. With the release of her book and SS19 collection, Sweet Lassi, Priya was able to establish a groundwork for brand identity almost immediately, gaining her recognition from the likes of Vogue and Dazed and Confused. By using deadstock fabrics and responsibly sourced techniques the Ahluwalia brand hails from the realm of sustainability, a direction every other brand should be following.

Her debut collection and book, Sweet Lassi was influenced from a trip to Lagos, Nigeria back in 2017. Travelling there with her family, Priya was able to dig deeper in to part of her native history to truly understand how she wanted to be represented. Whilst travelling here, she noticed how out of the ordinary some of the clothing was. Spotting tradesman in old London Marathon tops and other obscure British clothing that had made its way here is clearly shadowed in her collections with her ability to repurpose old fabrics and make them, truly, her own. See her ss19 altered track jackets for an idea. Another side of Priya’s heritage led them to then follow on to Panipat (just outside of Dehli), otherwise known as the global recycling capital. It’s no hidden fact that as a Western culture we waste what we no longer desire and therefore impact the rest of the world – but this is where you can really see the reality of it. The piles of clothing shown in the Sweet Lassi book through beautiful but melancholy photography, reflects the heavily recycled fabrics Priya uses in order to make each collection. Now being able to proudly say in interviews with Vogue (success?) that ‘Adidas is helping me with deadstock or damaged stock’ clearly demonstrates her unique ability to transform the old into the new in a way that no one has managed before.

Priya’s understanding and consideration for the wider impact her brand gives to the world around her stretches from the materials themselves, to beaded embroidery being undertaken through an Indian Social Enterprise ensuring the safety and fairness of the workers. This, as she rightly puts it, privilege of sustainability has been so thoughtfully considered that her idea of people not even considering repurposed clothing has been spun on its head.

And so we wait for the next era of fashion to follow closely in these footsteps.