With modern consumers gravitating toward timeless designs, how do you strike a balance between maintaining a vintage-inspired core and introducing fresh, innovative concepts? Do you think your use of certain materials, such as velvet, corduroy and linen, or the usage of certain techniques like smocking and quilting contribute to the narrative of nostalgia and durability within your collections? If so, how?
Pranav: Cord is a blend of vintage and modern aesthetics. That’s how we came up with the name. We’ve always been fascinated by vintage elements, whether it’s the silhouette of a dress, a certain fabric, or a print. But we didn’t want to be limited by nostalgia. We wanted to present these elements in a way that felt fresh and modern. Our clothing, bags, and accessories are a reflection of that blending of the past and the present. They’re timeless, yet contemporary.
Neha: Colour has always been at the center of our work. From the very beginning, we were obsessed with creating beautiful, rich color palettes. Travel and culture also play such a huge role in our inspiration. I remember visiting the MET in New York, and there was this room filled with women dressed in 1940s or 1960s English style. It was like something out of a painting — there was one woman playing the piano, and another having tea. It felt like time had stood still. That moment inspired one of our prints, ‘High Tea’, which incorporated that vintage vibe.
Your label frequently features images and stories of your patrons, as well as sharing excerpts and vintage finds from your journeys. How do you think integrating these narratives into your branding helps foster a sense of community?
Pranav: Every place we visit leaves an imprint on us, especially because we seek out slice of life experiences, visiting local markets and such. We bring those experiences back with us, and they show up in our prints and our designs. They become part of our creative language. For instance, a recent trip to Portugal led us to develop a collection inspired by the country’s rich cultural history, which we later showcased at Paris Fashion Week.
That’s the beauty of travel, right? it’s not just about seeing new places, but about how those places change you and inform your creativity. All of those experiences, the sights, sounds, and even the food, are translated into art prints and designs in a way that feels authentic and personal. And it’s not just the aesthetics that come from travel. We may take images of landscapes we saw, and then go back to them for a future collection, and then depict them into a print for our collection.
Neha: Even history for that matter, very softly sneaks into our designs. The smocking technique that we feature is basically seen on garments that were most commonly worn by English farmers, because of their functionality. And while we didn’t plan to incorporate them, it happened organically.
Pranav: We want to create pieces that tell a story; pieces that have meaning, that connect with people, and that allow them to express their individuality. And we feel like we’re just getting started. There’s still so much to explore and create, and we’re constantly evolving. The response from our customers has been incredible. The brand is growing, and our presence is expanding. We’re now in multiple cities in India and have stores in Delhi, Bombay, and Hyderabad. We’ve also expanded internationally and recently showcased our collection in Paris, which was an amazing experience.
Neha: Today, we’re delighted to see how many of our customers love to wear Cord while travelling because our pieces are super functional, and comfortable while looking good and making a statement.
Pranav: So the products that we make are really pieces that we can wear from day to night, depending on how you’re styling it. The versatility of our designs is what has made our customers love Cord.
Many of your collections, like Daily Hymns and Afterglow, lean heavily on themes of comfort and nostalgia. How do you translate the abstract and layered emotions of things like Autumn or festivity into tangible designs? Evoking a sense of familiarity and warmth through designs and campaigns alike, how do you ensure consistency while still making sure you’re evolving?
Pranav: From the very beginning, we were clear about one thing: our products should not only be beautiful but also evoke an emotion. For us, nostalgia is the emotion we want people to feel when they look at our products. They bring a sense of warmth, a familiarity, yet they’re still something new. It’s that balance of feeling like you’ve seen something before, but it’s still fresh and exciting, that we aim to achieve. Whether it’s our prints or our visual language, we always incorporate this sense of belonging. That feeling of, “I’ve seen something like this before, but it’s still so new,” is at the core of how we create our visual identity and prints. We wanted that emotion to be closely tied to our brand.
Neha: If you look at our products, you’ll notice that the colour tones we use are designed to evoke emotion. We achieve this through a carefully chosen color palette. The colors are warm, often with a sepia tone, which gives everything a vintage feel. It’s what we like to call the “vintage filter” because it’s inspired by the past but feels timeless, almost heartwarming. These colors, along with our prints, which often depict scenes or landscapes, play a key role in our designs. The silhouettes and details also matter deeply to us. We use techniques like smocking to add texture and interest. To top it all – it’s about how we shoot them. The way we capture the products is how they stay in people’s minds and help define the brand.
For example, we featured things like teacups or the act of making tea in our Daily Hymns campaign because it’s about finding beauty in the mundane; in the small, everyday rituals that we often overlook. It’s not about doing things differently to make them beautiful — it’s about observing and appreciating the beauty that already exists in our daily lives. When we see objects like a teacup, a kadhai, or a samosa, they connect us to our childhood. They evoke nostalgia in that sense. That feeling of nostalgia runs as an undercurrent through all our shoots.
Pranav: We’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with amazing artists, photographers, and stylists who truly understand our vision and bring it to life. They understand what we as a brand stand for, and help capture the visual story we want to tell, and a lot of credit goes to them for making our brand come alive.
