The Ikai Space by Ragini Ahuja

Art takes a wearable form with ‘The Ikai Space’ by Ragini Ahuja

Suyash Shukla 17 Sep 2014 0 comments

The interbreeding of art and fashion has a new destination. Meet designer Ragini Ahuja who talks about her label ‘The Ikai Space’ that caters to the young and fearless who are open to experimental and arty clothing. Here are excerpts from her interview:

Ragini: My target customer is laidback and loud at the same time. Somebody who is looking to experiment, somebody who wants to wear something which is new and somebody who is very comfortable with art in their sleeves!

Launched in July 2012, Ahuja believes that her edgy and animated designs are right in time for the Indian consumer where the market is more adaptive to fashion that blends with art.

Ragini: The market is definitely evolving. There are so many people I see experimenting with their clothes, people styling themselves, people buying separates and you know wearing them. And I’ve seen people wearing two three designers from top to bottom and styled superbly. So yes, definitely, the market is more experimental now.

‘The Ikai Space’ has been a part of three consecutive seasons of the ‘Lakme Fashion Week’ and Ragini has made heads turn with each of her collections.

Ragini: The past two seasons, summer/resort and autumn/winter, they have been overwhelming… the response was overwhelming. My new collection is very resort-ey again, very laidback, very big boxy silhouettes and it’s called ‘Asura’ and we have a lot of shibori, hand-done shibori, hand-done tie-dyes and we have a lot of appliqués happening. Every season is new learning. Everyseason is new application and so this time again a lot of motifs, a lot of art, basic silhouettes but a lot of fun in the clothes.

Marking an international recognition with her art-inspired design philosophy, Ragini was also a runner-up at ‘World of Wearable Art’ in 2009, an annual international art and fashion event held in New Zealand.

Ragini: I was a runner-up at ‘World of Wearable Art’ in 2009 and my garment was called Multiplug. So we used 3,000 charger pins and came up with a garment for people who are obsessed with their mobile phones.