background

Ashima-Leena are a well-regarded bridal couture duo, with a reputation but without branding. The need for it arose with the entry of the next generation into the business, and the resulting need to brand a new pret line. Ashima Leena’s expertise is the incorporation of applied textile elements in the traditional wedding apparel design of India.

The new label was a modulation of the ‘mother’ brand. It promoted a more classic version of the same aesthetic, but also drew on other Asian themes to create a composite aesthetic with a new, modern-minded woman in mind. Because the new brand would be in retail and therefore more visible, it would amount to a new identity for the whole enterprise. Thus two related brands were envisaged.

naming

We used the abbreviation ‘AL’ for Ashima-Leena, as a root, naming the pret business ‘Alias’. The name signals the Ashima-Leena connection in a witty way via the name (the pret line is alias of the original in spirit and name but not in form).

design

AL stands out as a label whose aesthetic is based on Indian fabric tradition, but in its pret form has a contemporary silhouette. The design simply expresses this.

The design is built around a leaf motif leaf drawn from the Mughal fabric tradition, which is predominant in North India. The motif propagates into a multitude of forms, These forms abound as if in a garden, in sales materials, collaterals, interiors and stationery. Their culmination is in the tree of life on the floor of the store.