Aneeth Arora’s latest collection, Forget – Me – Not highlights florals and crochet

An outfit from the collection
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

“We always work almost two years in advance. Each season, we draw inspiration from unique subjects prior to designing collections,” says Aneeth Arora of the popular design label, Pero.

The designer, who recently launched her Spring/Summer 2023 collection — Forget-Me-Not — says she “instinctively gravitated towards daisies and forget-me-nots, two flowers that symbolise love and romance” for the range that comprises tiered dresses, skirts, coats, jersey tops, and more. 

Blending in with summery shades, these flowers match the theme of yellows, whites, and blues perfectly, says Aneeth who believes Spring is a time for bright shades. “The colour palette for this season is predominantly yellow, shades of blue and white along with subtle accents of luminous pinks and earthy greens.” She explains how they chose from an array of fabrics woven by their craftspeople in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal. “To complement the delicate floral prints, we used a variety of stripes hand-woven in silk and cotton in varied weights. These include ‘Mashru’ a traditional textile from Gujarat, gabardine and taffeta silks from south India,” says Aneeth who has also used basic cotton fabrics ranging from gingham checks to linen stripes and gauze like solid fabrics and handwoven Jamdanis. 

An outfit from the collection
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Aneeth, who worked with a group of Afghani refugees to create ‘engineered crochet’ garments for a collection in 2021, has continued her association with them for the new range. “We have worked on the old-school crochet technique with a fresh take by making fully crocheted garments instead of delicate edgings which we have been doing for the past few seasons,” she says of the yokes and entire crochetted garments. 

As for the various handcrafted techniques used, the designer explains how “endless ways of simulating daisies and forget-me-nots” were explored. Both these flowers were made using a gamut of techniques like crochet, laser cut fabrics, beadwork, stumpwork, patchwork, appliqué, cutwork, and schiffli. She says the print surfaces for the season were developed using hand-painted bouquets tied with delicate satin ribbons as well as disintegrating bunches. “Hand-embroidered stitches ranging from bullion to satin and French knots were used to create daisy fields,” says Aneeth who is now working on the Spring Summer 2024 range, alongside the brand’s home collection, which is set to be showcased in the September issue of Maison & Objet and More, where they showcased last season.

The collection is on display on May 4 at The Folly at Amethyst, Whites Road, Royapettah, from 11 am to 7.30 pm, and will be available at the store post the pop-up.