The year is 1993 and a woman from the gulleys of Adarsh Nagar, Delhi, India has helped her daughter by bringing her four-month-old granddaughter home with her. Thus, setting in motion what is Kingri today. Shanti is a beautiful refugee who found herself in India after the partition of 1947. She loves to wear print on print suits which have an array of soothing hues and even more delectable prints. She has a leaning towards soft organic patterns that repeat themselves across her ensemble. Two out of her five daughters are running a boutique together. Seema takes care of the production, while Saroj takes care of the design. With an edge in her individuality that usurps most with exposures a lot more vast than her’s; Saroj raises her daughter along with her sister and mother in hues of femininity and what it seeks in the palettes of Old Delhi.
FORMULATION
The brainchild of their daughter, Kingri, was named after the delicate zig-zag lace that she grew up seeing sewn into the hems and the edges of her nani’s suits and dupattas. The personality of the brand sits on the bleeding horizon of the nostalgic taste of her nani’s old-school style and her mother's edgy new-age flair. The ethos of wearing prints with prints and patterns with patterns is what we owe our beginnings to as this is what we all wore from season to season. From sitting indoors in front of a cooler when avoiding the Delhi summer sun, all the way to what we wore while sitting on the Manjis soaking up the Delhi winter sun, sitting around Angeethis.
Generations of women sat having chai together and discussing this Salwar* with that Suit* for their wedding in that Rang* embellished with those Gota* Kingris* and Dabka*, Nakshi* and Resham Kadhais* is what makes for a major part of the cultural experience in an Indian household. This is what connects all of us through a common string of mutual adoration for all things ethnic.
INCLUSIVE
At Kingri, we’ve learnt from our elders to be warm, welcoming and inclusive. We invite you to celebrate our culture with us. A brand that caters to inclusivity, we care for every want, need and requirement. From having a library of prints and colours to choose from, to having silhouettes that fit every personality and body type; we also went a step further and brought you at the tips of your fingers, a customised boutique experience - Head over to our 'Custom' Tab to find more. (Add Hyper link to the word Custom)
With our roots resourced from the culturally abundant diaspora of the Indian sub-continent, what better way to bring forth Indian wear than in traditional handloom prints and Pure High Grade Indian cottons. Everything at Kingri is homegrown, made from the heart and is artisan centric. We make our clothes from 100% homegrown Indian Cotton. At Kingri, we use vegetable dyes and our hands to carve wooden blocks that bring these motifs to life. Our clothes are antimicrobial and hand-dyed. We aim at making them effortless, relaxed and just what you need.
GLOSSARY
Gulleys - Streets
Adarsh Nagar – A neighbourhood in the Northern Part of Delhi.
Nani – Maternal Grandmother, Here – Shanti.
Manji – A raised bed similar to a cot.
Angeethi – A portable mini Iron Fire Pit or Hearth.
Gota – Gota work is a type of Indian Embroidery traditionally made from strips of real Gold or Silver. Now, made with metal coated yarn.
Kingri – Tiny zig-zag lace, Punjabi variation of the word ‘Kinari’.
Dabka – A coiled wire that resembles a spring and is used for embroidery in India.
Nakshi - A metallic wire that resembles a spring and is used for embroidery in India.
Resham Kadhai – Resham Kadhai loosely stands for a type of embroidery done in India using Silk Thread.
