Azaad Collection By Rair

RaiR Azaad — A Small, Deliberate, Hand-Worked Capsule

Azaad is the most tightly edited line RaiR makes. Thirteen pieces, all made to measure, all at the upper end of the range. Where the other RaiR collections offer breadth, this one offers a narrow set of considered designs with a lot of hand work in each. Indowestern sets make up almost the whole collection. Palazzo sets with matching tops, kaftan sets, and skirt sets with jackets, plus a single hand-embroidered lehenga and a net sharara suit with moti work at the top of the price range. The kaftan sets are the most distinctive pieces here and the least common elsewhere on the site a relaxed, draped silhouette that reads as resort-formal rather than traditional ethnic wear. The work justifies the pricing. Hand embroidery, cutdana, zari, moti, beadwork, sequins and resham, on organza, faux georgette, art silk and net. Several designs describe the embroidery as handcrafted rather than machine-applied, which is what puts pieces here between one hundred and four hundred pounds rather than the sixty-to-ninety of the readymade RaiR lines.

The palette is deliberately restrained: pink, green, blue and yellow, in shades from sky blue and ocean green through lime yellow and dusty pink. It reads as a designed capsule rather than a catalogue. Two practical points for UK buyers. Nine of the thirteen designs are sleeveless, so plan for a jacket or cape layer if you want coverage several pieces already include one. And every piece is cut to your own measurements in sizes 32 to 60, which matters most on the palazzo and skirt sets where trouser length and top fit determine whether the silhouette works. Cbazaar manufactures in India and works directly with the karigars doing this hand embroidery, which is why pieces at this level of craft cost a fraction of comparable UK designer wear. A stylist can show you the embroidery over live video before you order.