Inspired by Nature, Moonray’s spring-summer collection, Equilibrium, envelops traditional crafts and dyeing techniques within the fold of sustainable fashion and modern design sensibilities. While plant-based dyes and eco-friendly fabrics are the cynosure of the range that hit store’s shelves mid-February, it is the three-dimensional floral bouquet details on the garments that underline the Mumbai-based luxury-clothing brand’s commitment to innovation in fashion aesthetics.
Karishma Swali, creative director of Moonray, shares that the brand started working on the collection in July 2023. “This time, Nature’s balance and harmony inspired us. We crafted concept boards, explored moods, and experimented until we found a celebration of balance and harmony in design,” she says while elucidating on the title of the edit.
From asymmetrical hemlines to draped tops, midi skirts and cropped camisoles, the capsule includes versatile separates that can be styled in various ways. It features approximately 65 looks and totals about a hundred pieces, informs Karishma. “At Moonray, we prefer working with limited edition capsules, so we produce very small batch runs. Additionally, within the 65 looks, we keep dropping fresh styles every month. This means we typically don’t produce too many units of a single piece,” she says.
Equilibrium pivots on traditional tie-and-dye techniques, such as shibori, bandhani and leheriya, which are an ode to heritage practices, adds Karishma. She explains that the dyes have been extracted from the madder root, lac and indigo plant. “Moreover, our dedication to using organic fabrics, like raw denim, hand-woven cottons, luxurious linens and silks further emphasises our commitment to environmentally conscious practices,” she shares.
The fabrics in Moonray’s edit are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council — an international non-profit, multistakeholder organisation established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests via timber certification — and embellished with handcrafted three-dimensional floral bouquets made with gauzy crochet, crystal meshes, polished chrome balls and cut-work detail. Moonray credits the aesthetics of the range to its diverse team of master artisans and seasoned craft specialists at the brand’s studio in Mumbai.
“Each micro bouquet features delicately crafted petals in micro crochet, juxtaposed with organza thorns. Additionally, polished chrome balls, semi-covered in ultra-matte crochet, and crystal meshes complement either a modest or oversized silhouette. We like the interplay of contrasting values. We wanted to demonstrate how complementary values co-exist and how in fact, complementary values together can create the whole,” says Karishma. Also, the micro floral bouquets are actually brooches, so they can easily be removed before each wash.
The collection starts at ₹8,500 and will be available at Moonray’s stores in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru and on its website moonray.in.
