KARDO was launched in 2013 by Rikki Kher who moved from London to India in 2004 – and stayed there!
His brand represents the antithesis of mass-produced fast fashion, with a company ethos being to slow fashion down.
Rikki is the designer and inspired by the craft textiles of his new homeland he has created high quality modern menswear with a relaxed and playful feel. He uses only hand crafted, slowly produced handloom textiles and follows only natural dying processes, for low environmental impact.
Each one of Kardo’s shirts looks and feels like 100% care and attention has been poured into it.
We spoke to Rikki last year!
What was your very first garment you made?
We made a collection of shirts using traditional Khadi handloom fabric typically used by Indian bureaucrats. We decided that this “boring” and these very “traditional” fabrics could be used in other, interesting ways.
How have you evolved since?
We now work with handloom textiles from traditional weaving communities all over India that incorporate techniques such as block print, natural indigo dying, denim, Ikat (tie die) and jamdhani (fine art weave).
One of your ethos’s was to slow fast fashion down. Be careful what you wish for? Did covid slow everything down too much?
We did get hit with a few cancelled orders. We also have a team of people (tailors and finishing teams, etc) that we had to look after during the lockdowns and make sure they had money. However, we got through with a lot of juggling and our retailers were extremely supportive. We also had a little time off to re-assess and make sure we were happy with the direction of the brand.
Who or what inspired the AW21 and SS22 colour / fabric palettes?
I was in France and Sarthak, who designs the collection with me, was in Delhi during the development of the collection. I was surrounded by the most beautiful colours of the French countryside, and he was surrounded by the urban landscape of Delhi. We blended the two to create a collection called “Inside Outside”, clothes that function both indoors and outdoors. Re SS22, we love the whole collection!! It’s, as always, full of colour, texture and interesting textiles, inspired by the colour clash of what we see everyday: sarees, rickshaws, taxis, street vendors, ice cream carts, community vendors on bicycles…
Why is community involvement so important?
Because making a piece of clothing takes a lot of people in a connected chain. Weaving, natural dyeing, block printing, Ikat weaving, cutting and stitching a piece of clothing, they are all art. Therefore, for us, it’s important to recognise the people involved and make sure we are all supportive of each other, so we can grow together.
Describe working life in Delhi during/since the lockdowns.
I had the opportunity to drive through parts of the city during lockdown to take my pregnant wife to the hospital and the empty city stood still! Incredible for a city of 20m+ people! The sad part was the sight of all the migrant workers carrying their belongings who were walking through the city escaping to their villages. Since lockdown, life’s back to a chaotic, noisy, colourful, crazy, joyful cacophony and we are glad to have our team back.
Why don’t you like the word “sustainable” and what re are your Low Environmental Impact goals?
Sustainable would mean stopping everything. This is not possible and the word is used flippantly by “green washing”. We are continuing to work only with hand crafted, slowly produced handloom textiles as well as increasing our use of natural dying, which are low environmental impact processes. We are also looking to implement solar panelling for our workshop and office in the coming year, if feasible, to reduce our grid consumption. There’s a lot of sun in India!
What was life like when you lived in Crouch End?
A long time ago!! My ex set up Against the Grain (an independent fashion retail shop) in 1996 and I joined her in 1997 when our daughter was born. It was a lovely place to live with a real community spirit where all the locals knew each other. A lot of creatives, young families and musicians. It still feels quite similar and my daughter lives there still, three streets away from where she grew up!
In London, consumers now care more about where their clothes came from and are choosing quality over quantity. Are you noticing this, too?
Finally! Yes, we notice it more. I hope it’s not a trend, but a real move towards less, better and more transparent consumption.
What one fact do you know about fast fashion that should put anyone off it?
I worked in fast fashion production for many years, managing large scale production out of India and Bangladesh for large retailers. Buyers see pushing down the price as a sport, with very little regard to the consequences down the chain. It’s always the workers who suffer when prices are reduced, forcing them to work for less and produce faster. Lower prices mean cost cutting often in the most important areas such as worker rights and health and safety. One of our straplines is:
It’s not where it is made that matters, but who made it and under what conditions.
