'I can be assertive, I can be loud, I can be funny, and I can have my hair however the f*ck I want it at work, because it's my business.' That's the advantage of being your own boss, says the 27-year-old founder of the eponymous brand Priya Ahluwalia.
Creating a kaleidoscope of patchwork sportswear, vibrant mismatches suiting and denim out of a spare room in her mum's home in south London, Ahluwalia's collection is made up of upcycled vintage fabric, which she tailors and embellishes - with unexpected beadwork on football T-shirts, for example.
It's inspired by a trip to Nigeria during her Menswear MA studies at the University of Westminster. There, she noticed street traders in obscure British clothes such as 'a top from a fun run in Leicester' and asked them where they got the items.
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Following a trail of the West's rejected clothes that echoed her own family's journey from Nigeria to Panipat in India (which is known as 'cast-off capital', as tonnes of discarded textiles from around the world end up there), her brand was born.
Despite launching as a menswear brand in 2018, women have flocked to Ahluwalia's work. 'Anyone can wear it, they're just bloody clothes,' she laughs. And wear it they do.
Her fearlessness with fabric and unexpected patchwork accents have already earned her the H&M Design Award 2019, a collaboration with Adidas, a capsule collection with Matchesfashion.com, and the LVMH Prize 2020.
Director of Buying at Browns, Ida Petersson, says: 'Priya connects hugely to her audience. her most recent London Fashion Week Men's (LFWM) presentation in January 2020 cemented her as a celebrated designer. Her work is the present and future of fashion, working on conscious endeavours, all while refining her craft.'
Recently, Ahluwalia has explored culture and craft with a photobook and digital exhibition Jalebi, all about Southall, Britain's first Punjabi community, beautifully capturing immigrant populations in the UK. As for what's next, the rising designer says a new studio that's not in her mum's house is on her bucket list. 'I also want to do interiors,' she adds.
So soon we'll all be able to dress - and even live - in Ahluwalia.
This article appears in the October 2020 edition of ELLE UK.
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