It all started in May last year when Umashan Naidoo, Head of menswear at Tata Trent, saw a group of people transforming the Mehboob Studios wall in Bandra, Mumbai. He immediately contacted the husband wife duo of Bubble Design and to explore a collaboration with them to create a funky line of clothing for the youth which is inspired by local speak – thus was born the Nuon X Freestyle collection. The themes revolve around the broad topics of Humanity, the Environment and the opportunities in India. Nuon, is a youth oriented private label brand by Tata Trent’s Westside.

As Neisha Sylva, Business Head of Bubble Design explains, “Over the years Bubble has worked to give fresher’s and struggling artists a platform to showcase their skills keeping in mind their unique artistic styles”.

For this particular collaboration, four local artists were shortlisted Akshay Lushte (who wants his art to touch peoples lives), Chaitrali Kadam (who used to conduct art classes to supplement the family income), Radhika Gohil (a student who supports her family by way of freelance gigs that come her way) and Sandeep Shelar (an uber driver with a highly versatile illustrative style).

Vivek Sylva, Creative Head of Bubble Design and curator of the concepts, explains how once the brief was received, they dove straight into researching each of the shortlisted themes. From finding the right fabric to integrating with the logistics at Trent to deliver on the brief. All of it finally came together at Trent’s partners fabrication unit in Tirupur. Akhila Chandrashekhar from the purchase department at Trent commented that this range would be a great way for the youth to express themselves. We wish them all the best with such future initiatives.