Amber Johnson spoke to Ajoy Sahu during their LFW presentation to discover the inspiration behind their latest shoe collection.
LR: Hello! It’s so lovely to meet you, thank you for having me. So what was the inspiration behind the collection and the whole show?
Ajoy Sahu: Actually, the whole brand is based on the poppies. [The fitting and construction] are all inspired by the poppy seeds, you know, the seeds inside the poppy pod when they dry out. And when you see the construction shape, it’s kind of like a poppy silhouette with the seed in it. So this is how we start designing the shoe construction. With the kitten heels, we always try to keep the seeds shape and also in the flat. And then slowly we evolve the whole
collection into more fluid line ideas. So, it’s based on the original construction to evolve into all different types of fluid lines to make very interesting patterns on the foot. Then we got all these very special custom made fittings. The poppy seeds are the most important for our brand. We’re kind of trying to keep the whole brand’s identity into the construction, the same concepts. Hopefully, in the future with the brand in the market a lot more, even though people don’t know our name, they can still recognise the shape.
LR: You need that element that stands out that makes you different from everyone else, that when you see that you say “That’s that brand!’.
Ajoy Sahu: Yeah, so this is the DNA and also very unique for the brand.
LR: Did you have any difficulties during the design process of the whole collection?
Ajoy Sahu: Yes, definitely. Because it’s during COVID. So actually, all the collections just arrived yesterday. Which really stressed me out. And also the factory finished, like, a week before, because we made everything in China. And I have a production team in China to help to control the development and the production. And of course, because of COVID, I can’t really go back to China. So I have to do limitless video meetings. I get up really early every day to work with China time. So, to just really push the whole collection, because normally,
during the development period, I’ll be in China to develop the whole collection with the team. Because of COVID I didn’t go back for two years. We really broke through lots of challenges.
LR: But it makes it all worth it though?
Ajoy Sahu: Yeah. And luckily, we found a really cool New York showroom to represent the brand worldwide as well. So it’s really cool. I’m really excited.
LR: Was there anything that you would have changed or would have done differently with the collection? Or are you happy with the outcome?
Ajoy Sahu: I’m really happy with the outcome. But of course, if I can be there to develop the production, it would be really great.
LR: I think it’s the perfectionist, you want to be able to see every single element of the design and the construction.
Ajoy Sahu: …and feel the material and choose the materials as well.
