Wild Orchid is the brainchild of Karuna Khaitan. Khaitan remembers her very first exhibition, at Park Hotel, Calcutta in 1985. Not having included any overheads, they had priced their outfits so low, that everything was sold out even before the morning was over. And they had to cope with crowds of disappointed buyers for the rest of the day. She had begun creating salwar-kurtas, only the year before and because of their initial apprehension decided to do it on a small scale. Prior to this, she recalls how she would scout the nook and corners of the city for buttons, threads and whatever else to create affordable-but-one- of -their-kind sets for herself and her friends. She keeps in mind, the wearer and her lifestyle when she designs her clothes. The idea, she says stems from the fabric. “The fabric tells you what it is to be made into.” This is where her enterprising daughter, Shradha, stepped in after studying at the London School of Fashion Studies in 1994. When she returned the duo launched their western wear line.
