It’s been a season of fashion collaborations. The latest one is between Bombay Shirt Company (BSC) and designer Siddhartha Tytler, to craft a collection of statement-making shirts realised in animal prints and colour blocked detailing.

It’s sort of a coming together of two worlds: minimal and maximal, approachable and edgy. The collection, themed “Tales Of The Night”, was inspired by Tytler’s college days back in 1997, when print clash and colour-blocking were all the rage in New York. “It was the energy and secrecy of the underground club culture and the party circuit. It just came back to me and to the drawing board, and it worked,” he shares. 

BSC has a history of stepping into new territory with each collaboration. “Our previous two collaborations have been with Bharat Floorings and Tiles and Bobo Calcutta, and both of them have been very different stylistically. We’re following the same pattern with this one. It is an eccentric yet unbelievably creative collection,” says Akshay Narvekar, founder-chief executive, Bombay Shirt Company.

In an interview, Tytler and Narvekar talk about the collaboration and the design process. Edited excerpts:

BSC has been about approachable prints and easy styles, while Tytler has always delved into glamour and goth… 

Narvekar: It’s nice to step out of your comfort zone creatively every now and then. Our usual style is more classic and clean-cut, and Siddartha’s is at the opposite end of the spectrum. His design sensibility and our craftsmanship coming together makes for a combination that we hope people will respond well to.

Tytler: Taking BSC’s aesthetic into account, they are a lot simpler, clean lined and I am not. I wanted to stir things up with this collection. I feel like the final designs are a bit like the best of both worlds. A customer walking in needs to see what both brands’ are all about. I played around with the prints, toned them down a bit as compared to what my usual work looks like.  

Shirts in the collection underscore colour blocking and animal prints. How was the process of conceptualising the prints?

Narvekar: Each print and the design chosen for each shirt has been conceptualised in keeping with the theme. Animal prints, camouflage, and dark floral motifs are all ideal for a standout look on a fun night out, so we’re glad we could get this collection off the ground just in time for the end of the year and party season.

Your target audience?

Narvekar: This collection is for anyone who is fearless in their dressing, someone who is not afraid to experiment and doesn’t allow others to dictate their fashion choices.

Tytler: It’s the shirt you wear when you are in the mood to stand out. So it’s literally catering to everyone from people who are 19 to those who are 45.

How do you suggest people style printed shirts for the party season?

Tytler: To be honest, you don’t need to do anything, they pretty much style you up on their own. If you want to have fun with your look, get some nice rings, get a stunning timepiece, play with all kinds of bottoms, do cargos, tattered jeans, boyfriend fits, go experimental or do leather pants. Everything looks great with it.