Beachwear typically is not meant to be worn away from the beach or pool, but Revaajh cover ups are stylish enough to be used for a day out in Malibu or a night at a Los Angeles club.
Revaajh allows the wearer to express themselves in a splash of vibrant colors and styles. Karan Sethi, the man behind the designs, gives these trends a flair.
“It’s an ethnic look back in the East,” Sethi said. “We use a lot of colors that make our brand pop. It’s something I feel that the West doesn’t experience as much with bold bright takes. It’s more monochrome with blacks and gray. We want to push the East’s colors and embroideries that’s been passed down for thousands of years.”
That gave him the opportunity to showcase what Indian and Pakistani culture could provide with their original designs and fabrics.
The fashion industries often take this approach when drawing inspiration from various cultures and creating designs that people of all demographics could share.
He set to make this brand as authentic as possible to keep the traditions back in the East alive.
“This technique of doing hand embroideries goes from family to family, so each individual garment is one of a kind and done all by hand, all natural, inspired by Indian outfits, all the pieces you see are hand woven and individually placed as well,” Sethi said.
This is more cost heavy, but Sethi wants to continue doing business this way, so these practices don’t die out.
“Back home we’ve really opened up to the West, a lot of our styles are now very open and progressive as well. I still get surprised every time I go back to visit,” Sethi said.
Using loose cottons to create these garments, makes them breathable and lightweight. The various designs give customers a choice to pick something that can suit their style and personality.
“I want people to be as comfortable in their body as possible, whether that’s expressing themselves to the pool to the bar, or at a party,” Sethi said.
The pieces are intended to be like dresses. You leave the beach, throw on some heels and head to dinner looking appropriate and comfortable.
Sethi didn’t start off as a fashion designer, but found himself in the field after wanting to take on a new challenge.
“My background is engineering,” Sethi said. “ I always wanted to be creative and express what I had in my mind and I was tired of sitting for 12 years manufacturing hard drives, so I decided to make this big shift.”
He said that fashion when he first started, was a lot easier to get into. The designs back East weren’t out in the American market in the way they are now, because of how conservative it was back then. Pulling out new articles so consistently was more doable because of the limitless resources that hadn’t been used yet.
“I wanted to bring in something new, and I felt like I could express myself in this field. I went from creating floppy discs to designing women’s handbags. It was an interesting and refreshing change,” Sethi said.
But the world of fashion changes at such a fast pace. Sethi finds it a difficult, but welcoming challenge to keep him on his toes in this competitive environment.
Making sure he meets the needs of the people that wear his designs are crucial. He wants people to the beach or to the bar without having to make a second trip to change their attire.
He has now been in the business for 17 years, keeping up with the latest trends and still creates pieces that keeps his customers coming back for more.
“Always bring something new to the table, fashion changes ridiculously fast, just like news, the same day you design something it could be considered old,” Sethi said. “We want to be timeless.”