A classic Malayalam film song, a fleeting Onam memory, the flowers that suddenly fill up our courtyards, the comforting feeling of being at home ... designers are spotlighting fresh perspectives and imagery related to Onam in their new collections.Pulari — Rouka by Sreejith JeevanDesigner Sreejith Jeevan of Rouka calls the collection he has launched for Onam Pulari, which means dawn in Malayalam. Inspiration was the Malayalam song Thiruvona Pulari, by Vani Jayaram, but of course, the collection has the signature Rouka ‘quirk factor’ or, as Sreejith calls it, “nostalgia with a quirky interpretation.” So the collection has the Kerala landscape, backwaters, coconut palm-lined roads, among other elements, apart from the fauna and flora of the State.
From Rouka’s Onam collection, Pulari
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Although the collection has come out around Onam, he makes a point about conscious consumption, because festival shopping tends to get a tad mindless. Sustainability has been a big part of the designer Sreejith Jeevan’s design philosophy; repurposing and versatility also feature prominently. “Over the past decade or so, we designers have been thinking — ‘what is sustainability?’ It is how you shop, wear and repurpose,” he says. What he suggests is rather to shop for ‘sustainable’ options and make it a practice.
