Kollab – A Hip Hop clothing brand’s trip to India. Jayanta said: “We had ideas ranging from forming a film crew and developing a series similar to LXD, to an artistic acting group like Cirque du Soleil, to other fantastic ideas that were ahead of their time, until we realized we had to get closer to home. Jayanta Samaddar alias Bboy Hotshot and his friend Bhargav Sidhagam, the founders of the team reappeared to start Kollab Lifestyle Pvt, and with all this conversation I realized that Kollab is not just an abbreviation, as mentioned above, but a true “collaboration” of hip hop and Indian culture in the form of clothing. Like any other culture, clothing is an important part of Indian culture and hip-hop. Everyone dresses in their freshest street clothes, mixed with their own personality; this can be seen in combinations of colors, accessories or clothes, hairstyles, shoes, etc. While talking to Jayanta, I discovered that not only did New York hip hop influence him and inspire Kollab to act. And in India, the hip hop fashion of the 1990s had a big influence on MTV through the rap videos of the 1990s, which were then broadcast on YouTube. If I called myself a hip-hop artist, I would limit myself, although I would; hip-hop was a very important part of my life, if not one of the most important influences of my life. I write inspired poems and short stories, and they have often become creative models for our fashion. But even before that, I was born in a small town with a beautiful blue sky, yellow mustard fields and a river that runs through it. KOLLAB® Lifestyle is a hip hop clothing brand from Calcutta that was officially launched on December 12, 2016. To be Bengali is to be born with many sounds, colors and festivals and like any child with a harmonium in hand. Every element of hip-hop has developed in every corner of India. The story goes back to 2008, when Break Guruz, one of the first braking equipment, began its journey. This led to the creation of Kollab, the abbreviation for Kolkata Lab. Jayanta and Bhargav tried different ways to solve this problem. A single visit to a jam in India gives you a clear idea of how young hip hop students grow up. Fashion is just another means of expression like rap to please people. We are interested in global issues, politics, science, technology and diversity. He says, “My Break Guruz crew is a unique crew. More specifically, hip-hop has attracted many young Indians under its creative wing. Streetwear in India is strongly influenced by the Western world. As they have been working on the local hip hop scene for some time, they have always had problems. So Kollab thinks it’s realistic. Following in their footsteps, fashion was finally perceived as sedentary. They study it, preserve it and appreciate it with enthusiasm through the different elements. Its connection to the culture and environment in which it operates. That’s how fashion speaks for you. All of this inspires me.
Subscription to our newsletter open soon.