It’s about embracing innovation while respecting the craft

Being an independent brand at the moment is no easy feat. The soaring cost of living and challenged retail landscape combined with the lasting effects of Brexit and the pandemic mean that times are tough across the industry, let alone for those brands who don’t have the financial safety net provided by a large parent company to fall back on. But despite these shifting tides, Ahluwalia has stayed afloat.

“The benefit of being an independent brand means that you can be agile. You can move with the changes,” she tells me, referencing the second string to her bow, film directing, and the virtual reality launch of her second book Jalebi, which was supposed to be released at an event that was cancelled when Covid hit. “This change meant the book reached a global audience, we had orders from all over the world,” she says, “It’s about embracing innovation while respecting the craft.”

Ahluwalia Spring/Summer 2025 Collection

Ahluwalia Spring/Summer 2025 Collection

It’s this appreciation of craft that has garnered Ahluwalia the reputation as one of London’s most exciting young brands. From the get-go, she embedded sustainable production principles at the core of her brand, too. “We’ve always used deadstock and recycled fabrics,” she says. “This season, we’ve also been given fabrics by Chloé.”

Her spring/summer 2025 collection, titled Home Sweet Home, will debut today on the London Fashion Week runway, alongside a live screening of Ahluwalia’s latest directorial work and a selection of jewellery pieces by Danish brand Pandora. As the name suggests, the collection is an ode to the homestead, but more so “what home means, literally and emotionally. You can feel at home around the right people. You can feel at home on the other side of the world,” the designer says.

For her, the idea of home goes beyond a physical space, touching on emotional grounding and personal connections. This approach speaks to ongoing global displacement and forced migration many are currently undergoing across the world. “Everyone should be able to feel at home somewhere,” she adds, positioning her collection within broader conversations about the ideas of belonging.

Ahluwalia Spring/Summer 2025 Collection

Ahluwalia Spring/Summer 2025 Collection

Some of her visual references come from family photographs; she points out a grainy sepia-toned still of her mother at age three in the house her Grandparents first lived in when they moved to the UK over 40 years ago. Leafy motifs from the wallpaper backdrop in the photo are carried over into prints this season while photographs of beaded curtains inspire intricate embellishment and wigs; fuzzy textures and doily details add to the homely feel.

For Ahluwalia, Southwest London is home, but her design aesthetic is categorised by an eclecticism that draws on her Nigerian and Indian heritage: “In my research, I reference, India and Nigerian artists, its more intentional; while London is the essence of what I do. It’s who I am, it comes naturally in my work.” The city’s energy, with its abundance of inspiration, is central to Ahluwalia’s creative output.

As London Fashion Week celebrates 40 years, Ahluwalia reflects on her place within its broader context. “My younger self would’ve been so proud,” she says, recognising the significance of showing alongside both established and emerging talents. Yet, she emphasises that London Fashion Week’s strength lies in its diversity of ideas: “It embraces independent brands, which means there are so many different types of shows and collections. It’s inclusive in a way other fashion weeks aren’t.”

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