We are thrilled to share our new Spring/Summer 2018 line with you! At Sudara, we work to get better every day and every season, this includes elevating our designs and patterns and listening to feedback from our customers. This spring, we are excited to offer a mix of vibrant statement pieces, along with patterns that will blend effortlessly into your wardrobe. Whether you are lounging, traveling, or out on the town with friends, we think you will love the heart behind our new line.
We sat down with our in-house Designer, Tessie Blake, to understand the planning process and influences behind the new line.
Sudara: What was the inspiration behind the line?
Blake: Each season, I work to create a cohesive vision for the whole line…how do the new pieces work with the existing patterns, what colors are we missing from our palette, does this line represent our brand well, these are the questions I start with as I design individual patterns.
For the Spring/Summer 2018 prints, I envisioned key pieces for travel and the blending of really bright, vibrant colors with a more neutral color palette–I feel like you could go on vacation and just wear only Sudara items! There are some patterns that can seamlessly blend into any existing closet and some that are made to be statement pieces that stand out with saturated colors and rich imagery.
Sudara: Tell us how you begin designing the individual prints each season.
Blake: I always try to start with inspiration from a traditional Indian textile or theme and give it a modern twist. On every trip to India, we take photos and buy samples from markets to use for inspiration.
For the Neelo print, I referenced photos from one of the henna training courses we visited at our partner center, Ben Holistic. While there, we talked to a class of women who were finishing their last lessons and got to see the portfolios of their work. I used some of these photos and sections of the henna portfolios as the interior of the elephant design at the border of the robe and pant.
When developing the Pari print robe, I knew I wanted to incorporate a honeycomb pattern. During our trip to India in 2017, as I 
was walking through cities, markets, and even in the rural regions, I saw this same pattern repeated again and again in the street pavers, tiles on the walls, in sections of fencing, really everywhere. I loved the shape and think it looks really elegant and modern. You can see echoes of this honeycomb pattern woven into the contrast magenta floral overlay on the yellow background.
For the Devi pattern, I started by iterating on a very small strip of older fabric that we tried to incorporate 
during a previous season and just couldn’t get quite right. I took the fabric, reworked the colors and border, and from there developed a full crawling print. I love how the design changes and gives the illusion of movement across the print–it also makes every pant a little bit different and totally unique.
On the new Ayanna print, my goal was to create a simple and very wearable two toned botanical pattern. I used the shape of monstera split leaf philodendron because I wanted to go for an updated version of our 2016print Princy (which used a palm frond shape) and keep it very tropical. We saw this plant on the campus of one of our partner centers ANC, that is in a more remote and beautiful, tropical location.
Sudara: What is your favorite piece from the new Spring/Summer 2018 line?
Blake: I am obsessed with the Pari Robe, it feels so fresh, so perfect for spring and I love the juxtaposition of hard geometric lines with the classic floral. I always feel like I personally can’t pull off the color yellow, but I am so in love with the print that I will wear it anyway.
Sudara: What challenged you making this line?
Blake: Weaving in different pattern combinations and finding new color palettes was something I really pushed myself to do this season to keep the line fresh and exciting. As a designer, I can sometimes start to work with one pattern and color scheme I personally love and then have a hard time breaking from it, I feel this season is a real departure. I also worked to find a true balance between keeping our prints fashionable and relevant while still holding true to our roots and drawing heavily on inspiration from traditional Indian textiles.
We hope you love our new additions as much as we do, please let us know how you feel about the Spring/Summer 2018 line and how you like to style your new punjammies online @sudaragoods!