Contemporary ready-to-wear label Aruni is the creation of Indian-Thai fashion designer Aruni Banditanukul.
You could say that Aruni was born to be a fashion designer, working for her families’ textile business from a young age…learning the tricks of the trade…fuelling her passion for working with textiles. Aruni was eager to learn more about this craft, which led to her decision to move abroad to study fashion. She obtained two degrees, having studied in Wales, Italy and her home country Thailand.
Her career in fashion began as an assistant to known designers: working behind the scenes at fashion weeks, shadowing stylists during fashion shoots and supporting designers with their fashion collections.
During this time she also did some designing of her own and gained recognition by winning the Vogue Honours designing competition in 2012, an event which is held yearly in India and a way for talented designers to earn the spotlight they deserve.
In 2015 Aruni took a major step in her career by launching her eponymous label and presenting her first independent collection in India.
Aruni explains the philosophy behind her brand:
‘I come from an Indian background but grew up in Thailand. I wanted to wear Indian clothing but the traditional, heavily embroidered styles didn’t work for me. I wanted to create a beautiful fusion of contemporary Indian meets Western wear to satisfy the needs of modern Indian women’
I can relate to Aruni’s story…craving for a fashion fusion between East & West as a European with South Asian roots. You can only wear your heavily embroidered, sparkly Indian wear on special occasions. Fusion wear is a great way to combine cultural influences into contemporary fashion design. The pictures from the gallery include designs from Aruni’s Summer-Resort 2016 collection named ‘The Denim and Pleats Story’
This collection is a perfect example of fusion wear. Aruni’s modern interpretation of the classic Sari is my favourite! Who knew a Sari with denim elements could look this great. The pieces are very fashion forward and have international appeal. Must haves!
Photography by Prerna Nainwal