PRAMA by Pratima Pandey will present ‘Katha’ at Lakmē Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI this October in New Delhi, drawing from the rich visual language of Kathakali and India’s enduring tradition of storytelling through colour, movement, gesture and costume. Translating the theatricality of the traditional art form into a contemporary design vocabulary, the collection brings together silk Chanderi tissue, patchwork, Kantha and Sujani embroidery through garments conceived as individual narratives.

At the heart of Katha is the idea of storytelling itself. Drawing from Kathakali’s ability to communicate character, emotion and narrative through a distinctive visual language, Pratima Pandey interprets these elements through material, silhouette and handcraft. Rather than recreating the theatrical form literally, the collection uses its spirit as a starting point to explore how stories can be carried through clothing.

Silk Chanderi tissue forms the foundation of the collection, with its luminous delicacy and ethereal lightness bringing fluidity to the dramatic influences of Kathakali. Against this lightness, intricate handcraft introduces depth and texture, creating a dialogue between the theatrical and the intimate.

Patchwork, Kantha and Sujani embroidery become a vocabulary of memory across Katha. Fragments, layers and stitches come together to preserve traces of character, time and lived experience, allowing the handmade details to become an integral part of each garment’s story.

The interplay between material and form continues through sculptural silhouettes and richly worked surfaces, creating a considered tension between spectacle and restraint, grandeur and quiet detail. The collection moves between these contrasts while retaining the delicacy of Chanderi and the individuality inherent in handwork.

Speaking about the collection, Pratima Pandey, Founder and Creative Director, PRAMA by Pratima Pandey, said,“Katha is rooted in the idea that clothing, much like performance, can carry and communicate stories. Kathakali has an extraordinary visual language where colour, movement, gesture and costume come together to create narrative, and I wanted to explore that spirit through the lens of craft. Through Chanderi, patchwork, Kantha and Sujani, every layer and every stitch becomes part of a larger story—one that carries memory, character and the beauty of the handmade.”

Through Katha, PRAMA by Pratima Pandey approaches every garment as a narrative in its own right, composed, layered and brought to life by hand. The collection looks at tradition not simply as a reference to the past, but as a living language capable of carrying stories forward through contemporary design.

Katha is where tradition becomes poetry, and every stitch carries a story.