This Chennai-based fashion brand lets you wear your individuality on your sleeve
No Grey Area, a Chennai-based apparel and merchandise brand, encourages self-expression. Its latest collaboration with the Internet Freedom Foundation addresses the needs of a digital generation.
Fashion, like all things creative, is a form of self-expression. It cannot be restricted in scope to ‘trends’ and ‘styles’ that dominate the catwalks and media houses of the day.
Aware of this, Chennai-based modern fashion brand seeks to champion individuality and purposeful thought through its eclectic collections since it launched in 2020.
For its first-ever collaboration, the brand has tied hands with the Internet Freedom Foundation to release limited-edition merchandise as part of its second collection called ‘Listen to the Lies’.
“Listen to the Lies is a cogitation of our digital footprint. An archetypal narrative of science fiction where our physical and virtual bodies collide. We wear our digitally generated selves and create a façade to observe the world through a thin screen. We pursue utopian lifestyles, and in the process, make the world a toxic place,” says Founder Arnav Malhotra, explaining his vision to YS Weekender.
The idea
Conceptualised and designed in India, No Grey Area aims to create a culture that allows the harmonious functioning of design and ethics and quality and cause.
“The beauty of this world lies in the synchronised symphony of juxtaposed elements — calm and chaos, light and darkness, black and white. Letting these elements co-exist without fitting them into boxes of convenience is our aim for No Grey Area,” says Arnav.
A 25-year-old business graduate from the University of Exeter, Arnav has had on-ground training in the fashion business at his family-run multi-designer concept store, Evoluzione in India.
This brought on a solid understanding of business, luxury, and fashion, both internationally and locally, allowing him to work on creating purposeful fashion by incorporating unconventional motifs into conventional styles.
He believes his work at No Grey Area gently pushes the envelope while encouraging people to think about their choices.
Its clientele exists across India, who connect with the brand through its website and social media. The brand believes its strength is catering to discerning customers who have an eye for beautiful alternatives to luxury designer wear.
“The idea behind the brand has always been to explore grey areas and question things that do not necessarily sit within the realms of what is considered right. Since our inception, we have aimed to nudge people out of their comfort zone and question the world around them and their actions towards it. We wanted our clothes to be a reflection of the juxtapositions that make us who we are and an extension of our personalities,” explains Arnav.
To this end, the brand explores Indian heritage and culture through western aesthetics to represent a modern India. Its approach to design combines the country’s rich craftsmanship with the contemporary functionality of streetwear – to represent a multicultural young Indian generation with gender-fluid sartorial identities.
The merchandise
The No Grey Area wardrobe features t-shirts with thought-provoking prints, well-fitted polo shirts in stark hues, sweats, joggers, and bombers, which incorporate sensibilities of athleisure and distinctive resort wear with printed fluid satin shirts.
Its Indian wear is a mix of minimalist dhoti pants, bundis, bandhgala bombers, and urban-inspired long shirts that fuse the traditional with the contemporary.
“Our clothes celebrate the freedom to shape individual paths. They recognise identities are neither black nor white, but a spectrum of experiences, and that style is a visual manifestation of where one stands on the spectrum,” he says.
“Hence, our brand aims to create an authentic narrative, by fusing western design with the traditional pillars from the east to create a modernised Indian aesthetic, where contemporary luxury comes together with street fashion,” smiles Arnav.
Besides apparel, No Grey Area makes accessories like bucket hats, caps, and face masks, which it describes as the need of the hour.
No Grey Area’s recent collection, ‘Listen to the Lies’, is a satirical take on the brand’s digital footprint. It includes sweatshirts, hoodies, oversized tees, joggers, shorts, and accessories.
Through the use of repeated visuals, it hopes to induce patrons to — “break out, take control of this fake world of likes and lies, reboot their universe, and create their own futures.”
Next, it is ready to launch a collection where it pays homage to Agni (fire) and Apas/Varuna (water) and how these elements are impacted by human action.
Arnav believes this theme is fitting for the brand, which has maintained its sustainable tag from the beginning. It is also gearing up for an international launch in 2023.
Its wares can be accessed through its website, and it also retails across the country in outlets like Evoluzione, Aza, Curato, Almari, Ara, Dapper, and Crepe Dog Crew, among others.
The collaboration
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) is an Indian NGO that conducts advocacy on digital rights and liberties. IFF undertakes advocacy campaigns to defend online freedom, privacy, net neutrality, and innovation.
This collaboration between No Grey Area and IFF aims to shine a light on topics like digital rights, freedom of information, the right to internet access, freedom from internet censorship, and net neutrality.
The merchandise includes two co-branded t-shirts priced at Rs 4599 and Rs 4799 from the ‘Listen to the Lies’ collection. All proceeds from merchandise sales are donated to IFF to bolster its cause towards internet freedom.
Shedding light on their decision to collaborate, Arnav says, “Much like the ethos of No Grey Area, the IFF focuses on advocating for people to have their authentic voices heard. Hence, this seemed like a fitting collaboration. Both our organisations emphasise the importance of the freedom of communication through art, design, or through the choices one makes.”
Story of growth
According to data published in globalnewswire.com, the Indian sports apparel or athleisure market was valued at $498.68 million in FY2020 and is expected to show impressive growth of 16.06 percent till 2026.
To date, it has invested roughly Rs 10 million in research and development, design, product development, brand and channel development, infrastructure, production, and marketing.
Arnav shares that the brand has witnessed tremendous yet sustained growth since its inception amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
It has an average hit of 13,000 website visits each month, and a dedicated engaged following on social media, which grows with the introduction of each new collection.
When it started shipping worldwide, its footprint grew stronger in markets like the US and Dubai, specifically.
Arnav feels it was quite challenging to launch a brand during the pandemic. He highlights Indian consumers are still very driven by physical experiences before buying products. Hence, it was not easy to adapt to the market while communicating the brand’s ethos and identity effectively. However, through a dedicated marketing plan, it overcame this challenge.
He adds, “Despite this, we have been able to create a community around our brand. It is extremely gratifying to know that our work excites people who want to be part of this conversation.”
Edited by Suman Singh