For the Eka x Swadesh collab, Rina Singh takes a road trip to Rajasthan

Cactus plants, date palms, a sprig of bright yellow amaltas flowers or pink ker plants, maybe even a pot of chai—these are the motifs that designer Rina Singh of the Delhi-based label Eka stamped onto the looks for her first collaboration with Swadesh. “If you have to sum up a road trip to Rajasthan in six objects, what are those objects? Basically, that was the story,” says Singh over the phone when we talk about the collection, which is an extension of her spring/summer 2026 line.

It’s the first time that Singh has collaborated with the craft-forward retailer, and in some ways she used it as the opportunity to go back home. “I was thinking about what the woman who would buy this would wear to her hometown. Like, when I go home to Kurukshetra, I wear my whole set with a dupatta, whereas the Eka woman might wear the dupatta on its own or with a dress instead of a kurta... It’s up to her,” she says.

As a result, the collection has eight pieces in total: four co-ord sets (straight-cut or A-line kurtas paired with matching pyjamas); two summer-ready dresses, one of which comes in the shade kesariya (“it’s a very limey, tangy, washed-down orange”); a long, lightweight jacket in shades of blue; and a pristine white embroidered dupatta. The line is perfect for summer, made of lightweight handloom textiles and with pretty details like chikankari panels, touches of lace or candy-striped bindings that hark back to old-school sewing techniques.

“A lot of the time I also look at places like the Victoria & Albert Museum or other textiles from 18th-century Europe. But in this case, it is very indigenous. Like, literally the kind of objects that you see in everyday life and travel around,” she adds.

Philosophically, both Eka and Swadesh are aligned in that for both the focus is always on craft first. Take for example the handloom textiles that are from West Bengal and the block prints made with Mukesh Prajapati, an artisan from Pethapur, Gujarat, with whom Singh frequently collaborates to create her own unique prints.

Ever since the first Swadesh store opened in 2023, the brand has made collaboration its cornerstone, working with the most recognisable names in Indian design, everyone from Falguni Shane Peacock to Abraham & Thakore, Kshitij Jalori, and Pooja Keyur, to showcase the extent of what is possible when you put craft at the forefront. On the red carpet too, it’s worked with designers like Manish Malhotra and international creatives like Dilara Findikoglu, who have turned Swadesh’s textiles into glamorous, contemporary looks for everyone from Isha Ambani to Khushi Kapoor. So far, most of it has been focussed on occasion dressing and this collaboration with Singh extends that same spirit to ready to wear. 

For Singh, meanwhile, a partnership like this allows her to reach a new audience, particularly given Swadesh’s international reach among NRIs. In a retail market that seems divided between overly ceremonial wedding wear and Western-inspired fashion on the high street, Singh says Swadesh is one of the few multi-designer stores that is thinking of Indian woman in a more nuanced manner. “Who is she and what is she wearing outside of the typical salwar kameez?” she asks. “As an Indian brand, how do you stand on your own two feet and find longevity? Swadesh has the muscle and will to achieve that.”