At Pink Phool, fashion is as much about stories as clothes. From a recent hand block printing workshop to Sakhiye, a runway celebrating transgender, founder Neha Prakash explores how fashion can connect, include and inspire. Rooted in slow fashion and community, her vision goes beyond retail, creating space for discovery, expression and emerging designers.
“Pink Phool was an accidental career for me because I was running an F&B, like a café niche. But once I got into fashion and saw the brands, I saw how passionate the designers were about their fabrics. It is very difficult to maintain non-toxic fabrics, and the kind of work they put in, the price points and the effort behind it — that is where I found my passion,” she begins.
That appreciation shapes Pink Phool’s identity. “The whole point of Pink Phool is not to have repetitive stuff. Going forward, I want to host brands that are very organic, very slow fashion, very giving to society, and also have great designs and great prices. People often say slow fashion is very expensive, but we start from Rs 2,500, and the most expensive outfits are around Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000,” she explains.
Neha also hopes to bridge the gap between younger and older shoppers. “Brands either cater to younger people or those who are older, and there is no balance between both. Pink Phool is trying to bridge that gap. It is a one-stop shop where a younger son, a mother, and even a husband and wife can shop,” she says.
Personalisation, particularly sizing, is important, she adds, as plus-size customers often have fewer slow-fashion choices. She wants them to find apparels suited to their bodies and preferences.
Pink Phool’s offline events connect designers with customers, helping them understand creative processes and collections. Previous events featured Sourav Das, Tryon and a collaboration around Masaba’s Love Child.
“Our offline events are basically a way to reach out to different audiences, help brands understand the audience and also help the audience understand what brands are trying to do, and why their products are expensive or inexpensive. We don’t just curate a random event. We make this place an art space, with interactive art and installations that are different from what other brands have been doing,” she says.
These collaborations encourage discovery and interaction beyond simply displaying products. That spirit inspired Sakhiye, organised with Radhika Charitable Trust, which works with transgender people. Neha wanted participants to experience fashion beyond stereotypical representation.
“I wanted to do something for the transgenders. I didn’t want to get only these very polished transgenders, but I wanted a regular person to get a chance to integrate into fashion. When you do an event with transgenders, it is either a dance competition or something very stereotypical. They are just taken for a movie or an audio function, and that is the maximum they would do. I wanted to do something more than that. I didn’t want to do just a fashion show where they would be dressed up and pushed onto the ramp. I wanted to do it aesthetically,” expresses Neha.
When the first brand she approached, belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, refused to provide outfits, she took charge of styling.
“That experience made me determined. I wanted to make sure I did it with them, and I wanted to do it effortlessly beautifully. So I took up the styling myself. We teamed Subbalakshmi’s Banaras sarees and lehengas with our jackets, corsets and things like that. It was very funky, and the participants really lived up to the expectation. They were like real models on the ramp, and people were blown away by the way it turned out,” she says.
Around 10 participants from the trust’s network and others joined, including transgender doctors, engineers and a woman Neha met while she was collecting money. She invited her to walk, too.
“We are not even half as courageous as them because, to live their identity, they go through so much turmoil. I think most of the women who came to the show walked away with a different view,” she shares.
Some brands provided jackets, while others hesitated because of stigma and taboo. “These are baby steps we can take, and we can do more events like this. I have promised them styling events, and my content buckets will definitely have transgender individuals who want to come, shop and understand fashion.”
Neha hopes future events will offer more than shopping, through designer interactions, new labels and creative workshops.