Through this month, Noida-based designer Sushant Abrol will be part of a multi-city tour to Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi, showing his label Countrymade’s latest collection.
For this line, Sushant was mentored by designer Ashish Soni, who, over the last month was also mentoring two other designers, Ikshit Pande with his label Quod, and Stanzin Palmo with her label Zilzom. The three were selected as part a new platform in the 15th edition of the Blender’s Pride Fashion Tour that kicked off last month. Called The Showcase, the programme had selected three aspiring designers and three models to be mentored, trained, and given a breakthrough in different Indian cities.
Sushant, who graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Mohali has been in the industry for a decade already. For half of this time, he worked with established designer Rohit Bal, taking keen interest in and responsibility for the menswear collections there.
“The sort of PR (public relations) push and the kind of recognition this platform will give us will be huge. We’d have had to struggle for years otherwise,” says Sushant of being selected.
“I’m a pure menswear designer, and my collections are very story-driven,” says Sushant. His first collection, called Beyond the Clouds, was inspired by a poem he wrote in memory of his late brother, the Indian Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Samir Abrol.
The collection mostly had shades of navy, black, and grey, and used natural materials like linen, khadi, and cotton and silk blends. “I also like to simplify stories and concepts in a way that a person can wear these ideas into the world,” he says.
The tour will be in Kolkata on 22nd January, Hyderabad on 1st February, Delhi on 8th February, and finally in Mumbai on 22nd February
