Ganni’s Designer Collab With Ahluwalia Is Still Available – But Not For Long

For Priya Ahluwalia, one of London's most critically adored emerging menswear designers – she was just announced as the winner of the 2021 BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund – the opportunity to do womenswear for a capsule collection with Ganni was too appealing to pass up. ‘I love womenswear, I’m a woman,’ she said with a glint of humour from her studio in south London. She describes the experience of designing the collection as a kind of revelation. ‘It really made me realise that patriarchy is in so much of what we see. Menswear is naturally designed for men’s comfort. But womenswear is not necessarily set up for comfort in the same way.’

So she designed the 19-piece line-up of graphic patchwork separates, dresses and outerwear done in her signature collage of cultural references with herself in mind, going about the work of problem-solving common issues that come up when wearing clothing.

‘I’m not going to lie, I really did insert myself into the whole design process. I was thinking a lot about myself, my best friends and what we want to wear when we go out to a party. I have big boobs. Can I wear a bra with it? That’s what I was thinking,’ she says. It’s the attention to those small details, the relatable conundrums of dressing, that make the collection so appealing. For example she designed her mini-skirts not to hike up when you dance or sit down. ‘It goes up one thigh to create a bit of movement – but also because it’s quite sexy. I was trying to think of a way to be comfortable, sexy and fun.’

The Ganni collaboration is a career-propelling moment for Priya in a way that designer collaborations often are. Founded in 2000, the Danish contemporary label has grown from being a small, indie cashmere business to a sprawling global one. The Ganni x Ahluwalia capsule landed in stores in April but, luckily, is largely still available and is the first of two collections, a relationship that will introduce her brand to new audiences beyond British menswear. ‘This feels like a signifying new chapter for me,’ she says. ‘And I definitely want to start womenswear in my own brand as well.’

After graduating from Westminster University with a Master’s in Menswear in June 2018, Priya won a constellation of awards and accolades including the coveted LVMH Prize last year and the 2021 Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. Her fan-base includes a mix of starry fashion lovers and influential media insiders.

One of the defining qualities of her work, beyond the innovative and sustainable design techniques and ethical manufacturing practices for which she’s most often celebrated, is her conviction to lead with her identity in an industry where Black and brown designers were often advised to minimise anything that might be deemed too ‘ethnic’. ‘The word “ethnic” was thrown around a lot and words like “tribal” and things. It almost made people scared of being typecast. Now, we’re in a time where we’re able to show the nuances of culture because it’s coming from a place of authentic lived experience,’ she says.

Born to a Nigerian father and Indian mother, with a Jamaican stepfather, she mines her experiences growing up in London and travelling abroad to underpin her clothing with commentary about race, identity and multiculturalism. She uses deadstock and repurposed materials to tell stories of her history. ‘Priya’s work is so forward-thinking yet it’s so connected to her roots. I love how her designs take inspiration from the tradition of passing clothes through families and between friends, paying tribute to her family’s heritage,’ says Ditte Reffstrup, creative director of Ganni.

‘A lot of what comes out of my work is the research I’m doing to learn history as an adult,’ Priya adds. ‘I’m really aware that history in the UK is so Eurocentric. History in the UK goes up to the Tudors and it skips the whole of everything through colonialism and it skips back to Victorian times. You don’t really learn anything about how slavery led to industrialism so I think also through the label, I’m older and more aware and I really want to know more about where I came from and use my work to speak to voices that don’t get spoken to.’

Priya’s feeling more optimistic as she looks forward to a life when she can travel again. ‘Pre-pandemic I loved travelling back home to Nigeria and India, taking my camera and doing lots of research,’ she says. In the meantime, she’s celebrating the fact that she has a new reason to retire the sweatpants. ‘I have worn tracksuits for months. The sun coming out has me making more of an effort. I feel like a lot of the designers I know, we dress quite basic. But I’m trying to stop. I’m going to be wearing this collaboration all the time.’