Aneeth Arora’s Péro is in its kawaii era

There was a special guest at last night’s Lakmé Fashion Week opening show by the Delhi-based label, Péro. Instead of a Bollywood celebrity, this showstopper came all the way from Japan and was very cuddly; she even offered to give me a hug. Say hello, kitty.

Eight months ago, Aneeth Arora, the designer behind Péro was approached by Sanrio, the Japanese company that created Hello Kitty, to work on a collection that marked the 50th anniversary of the iconic kawaii character. Arora does not consider herself a spiritual or particularly religious person, but, she says, “the universe brought us together.” She explains, “During the lockdown, I was watching a Netflix documentary called The Toys That Made Us and one of the episodes was about Hello Kitty. Since then, I had been thinking about how there were so many similarities between Péro and her. She has three principles: connecting with people; loving and being nice to others; and the third one—if you notice, Hello Kitty doesn’t have a mouth, but expresses herself through action rather than words. Which is what we’re all about at Péro as well. So I think I kind of manifested this into being.”

When I spoke to Arora, she was in her glass-walled brick studio in Patparganj, New Delhi, working on this special collection, which was unveiled last night at LFW. Calling Arora’s presentations simply fashion shows would be a disservice to them. Each one is a joyous reminder to keep some of our childhood imagination and optimism alive. Like immersive pieces of theatre, they use music, dance, and scenography to give us a glimpse into the wonders of Péroland. The venue this time was an empty, neo-classical, old property in Delhi’s tony Barakhamba Avenue—the entire building painted in candy-stripe white and red. Guests were served heart-shaped pancake sandwiches, mini apple tarts (Hello Kitty’s favourite snack), and strawberry smoothies under heart-shaped lanterns that hung from the trees. The models danced with the audience, wearing a joyful mashup of roomy layers including pyjama pants, barrel-leg jeans, bubble skirts, strappy dresses, and deliciously sheer, scallop-edged shirts topped with crochet vests, cocoon-like coats, and box-pleat jackets (sometimes all three together). The accessories included bag charms and pom-poms, giant scrunchies and bows, little hills of Jibbitz on chunky Crocs. Like every collection by Arora, it was a freewheeling journey through the country’s textiles and crafts. There was transparent Chanderi from Madhya Pradesh, mashru from Gujarat, taffeta silk from southern India, and gauze-like jamdani from West Bengal. The world of Hello Kitty was rendered through prints as well as patchwork embroidery, appliqué, and beadwork.

The way Arora sees it, “We’ve been toiling on a collection for two years, so there is no reason to not have fun and introduce it to people in a way that stays with them. We want people to learn about the textiles and crafts, but rather than feeling pressured to educate everyone, we want to do it in a fun way.”

On the other side, Silvia Figini, COO Sanrio, EMEA, India and Oceania, and Mr Men, Worldwide, explains why collaborating with Péro made sense for the company. “It was clear from the start that Aneeth loves the character and has a perfect understanding of the ideas behind it. The collection is vast, but each piece is unique and very sophisticated. The clothes are also gender neutral, which makes sense for Hello Kitty.” Figini adds that while wearing the clothes, she “learnt and enjoyed how even fabric can give you a ‘kawaii’ feeling on the skin. When something is so soft and comfortable, you feel more like yourself than ever.”

Not shy, just modest

This collection catapults Péro into a league of big-ticket fashion collaborators the cartoon character has associated with—from accessory brands like Crocs, Judith Leiber, and Casio to sportswear giants Adidas and Nike to even that benchmark of all things cool, Balenciaga.

It’s a timely move, since this year also marks a big anniversary, 15 years since Péro was launched, with a collection of 12 wearable, hand-sewn garments. Beyond serendipity, it’s Arora’s vision and dedication that have made it the quiet success story that it is.

Over the years, Arora has emerged as one of Indian fashion’s best storytellers. But if you don’t know this about her, well, it is not entirely your fault. Unlike many in the game, she never leverages her personality in her professional interactions with the outside world. She is famous for refusing to take a bow after her shows and rarely grants photographs. In the vein of Martin Margiela or Helmut Lang, she prefers to let her clothes speak for themselves.

Curator Sangita Kathiwada, the owner of now-shuttered multi-designer boutique Mélange and one of Arora’s earliest champions, remembers inviting the designer to be part of a discussion at a literature festival almost 16 years ago. “The topic was craft and artisanal clothing and I remember there was an empty chair on the panel because Aneeth never came out! She stayed hiding behind a pillar. I didn’t get angry because I remember seeing her clothes and thinking that this girl will really go places even if she never steps out.” Arora laughs when I ask her if it’s because she’s camera shy. “Not at all, I love meeting people. I just don’t want to be the face of the brand because I know it’s not only me who is responsible for it. All I can do is dream about something and keep giving my input, but then I need a whole team to make it happen. Over the years, that feeling has just become stronger.” 

From working with one tailor in a tiny flat in Delhi’s Siddhartha Extension, Péro has now expanded to a design team of 30. That’s not counting the countless skilled artisans and collaborators who form the backbone of the brand—weavers from around the country as well as a group of Afghan refugee women who specialise in crochet, nuns in Kochi who make lace and do needlepoint, a family of jewellery workers in Udaipur that makes her signature drop-shaped metal buttons (the Rajasthani craftspeople have been her collaborators since her first GenNext show in 2008). The brand works across womenswear, menswear, kidswear, the occasional accessories, and even homeware (although the last is not available in India yet). It’s available in 35 countries through more than 350 stores, with 60 to 70 per cent of the business coming from overseas retail. Arora is clear about her vision: “I want Péro to be looked at as a global brand rather than an Indian label.”

It’s Arora’s brother, Jasmeet, who looks after the business side of things. “He’s the head and I’m the heart,” she explains. Jasmeet worked with Hindustan Unilever and Citibank India before joining Péro in October 2014. With his gentle smile and neat turban, he is the one who will greet you at the entrance at the brand’s highly anticipated annual sales, and last night, he was the one helping clients find their passes before the show. The siblings grew up in Udaipur where, he says, “I always knew Aneeth to be hardworking, she would pursue any project she took on relentlessly. But I got to know of her creative bent of mind when she cleared the entrance exams for both Sir JJ School of Art, to study architecture, and NIFT in Mumbai. She chose fashion and we can all see where she is today.”

A not-so-little Etsy addiction

You do not get much small talk with Arora. She concedes she has a house near the factory, would love to escape to the hills one day, and has a mild Etsy addiction. “One of the starting points for this collection was a piece of textile that I bought from Etsy a long time back. While researching, I realised that it was from a Hungarian embroidered tablecloth. That made me think of how there’s also a culture of embroidered bedsheets in Kolkata and that became the springboard for the autumn/winter 2024 season.” There was, of course, a Hello Kitty-themed Etsy binge as well. “I wanted to know what the brand was like when it started. Over a period of eight months, I’ve managed to make a little collection of vintage Hello Kitty toys and bags.”

I try one last, non-controversial play for a personal angle. How does she keep Péro’s playful spirit alive for herself? Does she have a dog? A secret child that we don’t know anything about? “Péro is my baby!” she laughs. “I find joy very easily in life. Being stressed has almost become like an act that I put on because I have to get work done, but it doesn’t really last. The child within me is always alive and kicking.” How kawaii.