I wrote about Avishi Dayal Kalra and her debut collection when I had freshly joined Homegrown in 2019. Both of us were young — bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and figuring it out in real time. Over the years that followed, we changed as people, and so did our practices. But I kept note of how Avishi was progressing — a parallel to me carving out space in the fashion design world without legacy connections or institutional backing. So when she reached out to tell me about her latest collection titled Savera, and then mentioned a few weeks later about her debut at New York Fashion Week, I couldn’t help but beam with joy. When we sat down to discuss her latest collection and her NYFW experience, she told me that someone in attendance had said she was a designer from South Asia who had made it to the platform out of sheer merit. This was not tokenism nor done for diversity in an increasingly divided world, but recognition that was earned.

The collection titled 'Savera' reflects its name — it evokes the essense of the morning: the first light spreading across dark land and making it newly visible. Rajasthan was the anchor of the collection, but not in a literal, postcard way. Instead, in the palette of desert yellows, deep maroons, warm browns, and dusty pinks and the gleam of mirror work featured in contemporary cuts; and in textiles that hold memory but can’t be pigeonholed as ‘archival’. 

“I have been trying to reinvent ADK for a while & I went back to my very own projects that I did back in college. And I realised that what I did back then in 2017 is what everyone is doing today. And, I decided to go back to my own roots,” Avishi told me in regards to the collection. That return to roots was how she perhaps found clarity. There is assurance in the way craft appears in the collection - hand embroidery on denim, mirror-work on bralettes that are paired with structured outerwear. Traditional Indian textiles zusually reserved for festivewear finding new presence in well-tailored jackets, wide-legged trousers, and even in flowy skirts with minute details. Nothing here is ornamental for ornament’s sake. The embellishments are additions to the language of Avishi’s eponymous fashion label.

“India as a country is so rich with culture, craft and communities that is still unexplored when it comes to western wear. The whole idea was to bring India's craft but in a more contemporary and modern style that could be worn everywhere,” she explains, and that wearability becomes the quiet thesis of the collection. The collection ranges wide in Avishi’s attempt to present Indian design in her unique way - a sharply cut brown suit softened with delicate embroidery, a printed co-ord in muted rose tones speaks to ease but without losing form, and a fringed yellow dress sways with movement but is sharp in silhouette. There is a deliberate push and pull between structure and fluidity throughout the collection. Avishi shared about the development of the collection and shared,  “we worked through multiple rounds of sketches, fabric trials, embroidery sampling, and fittings, constantly refining silhouettes to balance structure with fluidity. Each piece evolved through a dialogue between craftsmanship and contemporary form.” You can feel that dialogue in the way garments hold themselves: not succumbing into nostalgia, but not chasing trends either.

In taking ADK to New York Fashion Week, the intention was set from the get-go. “We wanted to showcase that India is so much more than just traditional occasion wear. Our country holds extraordinary craft, techniques, and textiles that deserve to be seen in a modern, global context. Why should international houses like Dior reinterpret and spotlight our craftsmanship in contemporary ways? Why aren’t we doing it ourselves?”, Avishi had a lot of questions in mind leading up to her NYFW debut supported by Flying Solo.

This attitude of showing what modern India truly is, feels central to the designer’s work and this collection in particular. For years, Indian craft has oscillated between being romanticised and relegated, but either through exoticised lens on global platforms or confined to bridal and festive categories at home. What Savera by ADK presents was integration: craft as everyday expression. Watching ADK arrive at New York Fashion Week in this form feels personal, perhaps because I remember the early days of the designer - the streetwear instincts, the youthful irreverence, ambition that felt ahead of its time that I resonated with all too well. But with her collection Savera, it feels like Avishi's ambition has matured. It carries forth the same belief but it is less concerned with performing her identity or pulling herself away from her cultural heritage. It is poetic that this collection is a dawn; not because it is a beginning in the literal sense, but because it marks a shift in light. 

A designer returning to her own archive, and her cultural memory - only to see that it was enough to stand on a global stage on her own terms. And maybe that’s what making it on merit truly means.

Follow ADK here.

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