Common Ground.

Design Strategy

Ralph Lauren and Hamam have never had anything obvious in common. One is a global fashion house, the other a soap bar in a bathroom cabinet. But both built their power the same way: by attaching themselves to something bigger than the product, a dream of family, a mother’s trust. Once that parallel was visible, the collaboration stopped being a stretch and became the actual thesis: a five-look collection built for the modern Indian mother, always both fierce and gentle at once, timelessly so.

Researching Both Worlds

Before any illustration began, research went into both brands’ personas side by side. Ralph Lauren’s built mythology of the American Dream, and Hamam’s decades-long place in the Indian household as a symbol of trust and swadeshi pride. That research shaped a palette pulled largely from Hamam’s own branding history across its product range, and a silhouette language that leaned into Ralph Lauren’s classic ease. Open, loose fits that echo Indian garments like the salwar kameez as much as they echo Ralph Lauren’s own archives.

A Stripe of Its Own

Ralph Lauren’s stripe is iconic, precise, almost a signature in itself, which made it the wrong decision to copy directly. Every stripe pattern in this collection was hand-drawn instead, deliberately imperfect, with the loose quality of a child’s drawing rather than a ruler. The hardest balance in the whole project was holding that playfulness against Ralph Lauren’s sophistication without either cancelling the other out. The collection needed to feel considered, not costume.

Five Looks, One Shoot

The collection resolved into five ensembles, each built for a different register of a mother’s daily life. One look was taken further: fully art-directed and shot, translating the illustrated collection into a real garment and a real image, grounding the speculative work in something tangible rather than leaving it as illustration alone. Considering the theme of the shoot, I ended up casting my very own family as my models, and my mom as the star.

Outcome

Presented to final jury, the project was singled out for how it balanced restraint, sophistication, playfulness, and a distinctly Indian sensibility. Proof that Ralph Lauren’s classic silhouette language could hold an entirely different cultural voice without losing what makes it Ralph Lauren.

Reflection

The best way to make something genuinely new is to bring together two worlds no one else would think to combine. Everything has something in common, if you look hard enough.