A fashion collab made for Jaipur’s cool kids

You know when you have an event that calls for dressing up but not heavy-duty occasionwear? On a brisk evening in Jaipur this past weekend, Kanika Goyal unveiled just the wardrobe for it. ‘Palace Hours’, her new collaboration with The Palace Atelier, the concept store housed within the City Palace and co-founded by Gauravi Kumari and Claire Deroo, takes centuries-old references from the palace’s architecture and archives and filters them through KGL’s signature playful, irreverent lens. Guests gathered at the store for a preview of the collection before heading to the palace’s sarvatobhadra for a performance by electronic artist Curtain Blue.

As with all great collaborations of the 21st century, this one started in the DMs. “Kanika messaged me about doing something together, and we thought why not?” Kumari tells me as she walks me through the collection, pointing out the many references from the palace’s archives that found their way onto the clothes. For Goyal, the idea had been brewing for a while. “Gauravi and I have been talking about doing something for a couple of years now. I felt like she was bringing in this new energy and changing the perception of how heritage is perceived in such a fun yet nostalgic way with The Palace Atelier,” she says.

For the collection, the designer wanted to move beyond the traditional lens through which Rajasthan and Jaipur are typically portrayed to create something more “fun, playful, grungy, trance-like”. Architecture offered a natural starting point. The NIFT-Delhi and Parsons School of Design alumnus, who counts everything from Chandigarh’s modernist architecture to Jaipur’s nine-grid mandala system among her influences, began with exploring the city’s royal and architectural history. A visit to the Power & Diplomacy exhibition at the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum introduced her to historical weapons, including sabres and morning stars, which found their way onto shirts as prints. Historical maps from the museum’s collection too received a similar treatment, while paisley and celestial motifs borrowed from carpets were translated into embroidery. “We wanted to mix these influences with the otherworldly, surreal elements of KGL,” Goyal adds. The sun, an insignia associated with Jaipur’s royal family, and the talwar, a ceremonial curved sabre, appear throughout garments as illustrations and embellishments.

The 32-piece collection comprises slogan T-shirts and sweatshirts, embellished tops and bottoms, and bombers and blazers—all in KGL’s signature oversized style. Standout offerings include a grey sweatshirt that spells “Gems before them” in crystals; a shift dress embroidered all over with alien-like flowers, paisleys, stars, and celestial motifs; and another that plays with the unlikely combination of mirror work and ombré faux leather.

“Mirror work was such a core research point for us, because we always look at the crafts of India through a contemporary lens and we wanted to make it cool,” the designer adds. There’s also a sheer embellished black skirt, a butter-yellow bomber embroidered with swirling suns, and jeans with cutouts and beaded fringe. The cheeky slogans, meanwhile, are a throwback to KGL’s early days. “Some of the pieces took me back to when I first started the brand at 24, when we used to do a lot of these bratty statements. We went to Jaipur so many times and kept seeing gems, so that’s how ‘Gems before them’ came about,” Goyal explains.

Not everything in the collection is quite so embellished and extra. “We made sure to do semi-embellished and easier pieces for people who may like the idea and design and don’t want to spend too much to be able to buy into it,” she says. And because no limited-edition collaboration is complete without its own merch, there’s also a pink baseball cap, a roomy black tote, and a vintage-inspired fireplace matchbox emblazoned with ‘Palace Hours’ up for grabs.

As the preview gave way to a party within the palace walls, Jaipur’s cool kids turned up in full force, some already dressed in pieces from the collaboration, making the entire thing feel rather apt. After all, what better place to take your new party clothes for a spin than an actual palace?

‘Palace Hours’ is available at The Palace Atelier, KGL stores, and online