Know Your Designer – Urvashi Kaur

by Nykaa Fashion

Urvashi Kaur is a fashion graduate from Esmod International in Paris, and has worked for veteran designers such as Marcel Marongiu and Issey Miyake. She debuted at the spring/summer 2008 Lakme Fashion Week.
Coming from an army background, Urvashi travelled extensively during her childhood, experiencing varied cultures which gave her a deep understanding of the wealth of art and culture that the country has to offer. This formative exposure to ethnicity and identity is an on-going theme in her work that she continues to explore.
Her style embodies ethnic as well as contemporary patterns, having been exposed to and influenced by several cultures. Her label is a ‘glocal’ fashion line that combines global designs with traditional patterns. The designer has received widespread appreciation for her work on sustainable fashion and collaborations with non-governmental organisations.
Kaur is a big fan of Indian textiles and utilises a lot of hand-woven, organic textiles and natural colours in her work. She incorporates indigenous Indian weaves like kota, mulmul, and chanderi, as well as age-old Indian methods like the boho-inspired tie-and-dye, block printing, and ikkat patterns throughout her collections.
Her clothing has also been known for its gender neutrality throughout the years; when she launched her menswear collection in 2016, she realised there wasn’t much of a difference in the construction of male and female garments.
Kaur went on to launch another label called ‘Kapda’, a bold and youthful take on ready-to-wear. Easy denims, knits, jersey, linen, and cotton make up the range, which is almost entirely monochromatic.
Since her debut, Kaur has amassed a large number of honours and awards for her label. To name a few, she’s been featured in Elle India’s “The Graduates” and was named one of the top 18 designers at Vogue India’s first Fashion Fund. She has dressed many famous Bollywood celebrities including Shradhha Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz, Parineeti Chopra, Swara Bhaskar, Neha Dhupia, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Huma Qureshi and many more.

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