PEAKLIFE

Bold, dramatic & glamorous expression of style, Peaklife explores more about Raseel’s monochrome collection

“Resort wear allows creativity to flow and inspiration to strike” says Raseel Gujral Ansal on her recently launched Resort Wear collection. Being a leading luxury lifestyle designer, and creative director & founder of Casa Paradox & Casa Pop, she has breezed into fashion with the same expressive & graceful style. The burning & restless quest to explore every medium of creative application has led Raseel in the past 30 years, starting with interior-architecture, adding in furniture & product design, organically evolving into an architect & searing through graphic illustration for home & fashion.

Celebrating her recently conferred doctorate in architecture & unveiling of the newest resort wear collection, the event night was attended by many elite’s like AD Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Raghavendra Rathore, Kavita Rathore, Leena Singh, Rina Dhaka, Manjeet Bulhar, Mannu Mansheet, Saif Mahmood, Archana Vijay Puri to name a few.

From her fashion design inspiration to following one’s heart, this interview will take you through a quick journey of Raseel’s fashion wear.

Q 1: What has been the inspiration for this new launch of summer wear collection?

The summer collection blends the natural and modern worlds into elevated pieces for everyday use. Each piece begins with an effortless silhouette, before being imbued with personal touches and graceful textures. The same way as for my wallpapers, fabrics, incidental furniture collections or home accessories. I like to translate the resort trends into vibrant, bold and edgy prints that spell “all year round” fashion, urban sensibility, and seasonal hues.

The collection embodies an eclectic spectrum of art-infused designs celebrating fauna and flora where personal creativity is made possible through customisation. Easy to wear and easy to love is an absolute must.

 Q 2: As your brand has been a dominant player in interior designing, what gave you the idea to advance into fashion apparels?

Translating my design vocabulary from interiors to apparel seamlessly found its way in my heart as an organic evolution in celebrating artful and distinctive style.

Exploring a new medium such as fashion to articulate some of my signature styles sparked during a recent fashion week, representing a new canvas for me to share a point of creative expression. The same way as art, design is boundaryless and creativity should remain unboxed. Extending my graphic work to the medium of fabric became a natural obvious, the only thing that changed is the canvas. The art remains the same.

Q 3: Your favourite or highlight of the collection?

Where to start… on a spa day, I love to wear the yellow notch collar pyjama set from the PARADISO collection. For a summer evening cocktail in the city, the flawless aqua tapered kaftan dress with INDE design is lavishly sophisticated while the COSMOS’s pyjama and blouse elegant silhouette works perfectly for a business meeting or day at the office.

 Q 4: What makes you different than your competitors?

In every aspect of my life, I firmly believe that one has her or his own song to sing. Although I appreciate looking at what surrounds me, I don’t perceive competition nor do I follow trends. I have a compulsive urge to explore beyond the traditional lens and create design stories that blend contemporary and classic elements in an artistic manner through multiple mediums.

Why settle for ordinary when you can spruce up your fashion style with a kaleidoscope of captivating and timeless designs.

 Q 5: How has been the journey so far and what more can we expect in the near future?

The journey so far is one of constant motion and I love it! The desire to craft unseen designs, to explore unconventional novelty and to initiate new perspectives literally flows in my blood.

As for the future, I have only one certainty: no matter what I initiate, it is going to be what my heart tells me.