Item 2020.97.3 - Priya Ahluwalia Reconstructed Jeans

Identity area

Reference code

2020.97.3

Title

Priya Ahluwalia Reconstructed Jeans

Date(s)

  • 2018 (Creation)

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Item

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1

Context area

Name of creator

Ahluwalia
(2018-present)

Administrative history

Ahluwalia was founded in 2018 by Priya Ahluwalia (b. 1992). She presented her graduate collection at London Fashion Week Men’s as one of the first graduates from the University of Westminster’s MA Menswear course. Ahluwalia’s designer draws inspiration from her combined Indian-Nigerian ancestry and London upbringing, frequently repurposing vintage or surplus textiles through patchwork techniques. The label won the H&M Design Award in 2019, was a co-winner of the 2020 LVMH Prize, and won the Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design in 2021. Ahluwalia was named the 2021 recipient of the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund, which included a £150,000 cash prize. The company has collaborated with adidas, Mulberry, Paul Smith, Ganni, Gucci, Microsoft and Avery Dennison.
Sources: British Vogue; Evening Standard; WWD.

Repository

Westminster Menswear Archive

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Scope and content

These jeans are crafted from reworked mid-blue denim with orange double stitching. They fasten at the centre front with a YKK zip fly and a metal shank button inscribed with "John Lewis." The design includes large, rounded-edge patch pockets at the front, with two curved panel details on each leg. The back features two additional patch pockets. A white ribbon label (without text) is sewn into the back of the waistband.

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      Note

      These jeans were part of one of eight looks from Ahluwalia's MA Menswear graduate collection, presented in June 2018 at London Fashion Week Men's for the Spring/Summer 2019 season.

      Note

      From Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive:

      RECONSTRUCTED JEANS
      Ahluwalia
      2018
      Priya Ahluwalia graduated from the MA Menswear course at the University of Westminster and showed her debut collection at London Fashion Week Men’s in June 2018. It was inspired by research trips to West Africa and Panipat, India, the second-hand clothing recycling capital of the world. All of the fabrics for her collection were created from patchworking together pre-existing garments. As indicated by the metal button bearing the name of the British department store John Lewis, these jeans were reworked from second-hand denim garments. The front of the jeans features large patch pockets with rounded edges, and the front of each leg features two curved panels. The back of the jeans has two patch pockets, and the seams are all
      topstitched with orange thread.
      Cotton
      Archive no. 2020.97.3

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