For the longest time, there has been an almost symbiotic relationship between fashion and music. An artist’s clothes were often representative and had a ripple effect across cultures. Fashion became integral to the peripheral identity of a musician and more often than not, fans would mimic the statement made by the musician in order to identify themselves as a part of a community. Fashion and music play monumental roles in formulating the identity of an individual and making them feel like they are a part of something bigger. Michael Jackson’s and Paul McCartney’s iconic Versace outfits in the ‘Say Say Say’ video is testament to the role fashion has played in deriving from a time period or genre of music. Iconic bands like Sigur Ros, Mogwai, and Explosions In The Sky created a whole community of listeners who loved a particular sound and identified with it. Cut to urban India today, you can see an excess of beautiful overlapping identities and collectives using music, streetwear, and inclusivity to communicate ideas and represent ideologies via clothing.
A series of quality bands and genres have evolved in the Indian scape. One brand that has effortlessly integrated their identity as artists into a label especially curated for the unapologetically confident and bold Indian is Zia. Zia is an apparel line started by aswekeepsearching, an acclaimed modern rock band from Pune. Punk-rock has a unique history in our country where local contexts and languages have been blended into the larger narrative of punk-rock. Zia believes in reimagining the general perception of streetwear and moulding it to integrate the identity, ethos and authenticity of the band’s musical language and aesthetics. They aim to question gender norms and create clothing that is a more inclusive and fluid by-product from the fashion world. The modern millennial is all about authenticity and individuality and Zia celebrates just that. Their clothes are personally curated and trained tailoring work goes behind their conception and execution. Streetwear has become a medium of communicating creativity and Zia manages to do that exceedingly well.
Zia’s latest line, Tattva, is inspired by the first song that the band ever wrote. Tattva draws inspiration from nature and embodies the physical attributes of power, dynamic growth, seasonal death, and regeneration of the bark of a tree and eventually, communicating the reality (tattva) of human life via their prints.
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