Amazon Fashion launches multi-designer brand River

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Oct 2, 2020

E-commerce giant Amazon’s fashion arm has partnered with DBS Lifestyle LLP to launch River, a multi-designer brand featuring lines by JJ Valaya and Manish Arora, among others.

 
River launched ‘season one’, its maiden collection featuring 270 styles, online on Amazon India on October 1. The brand features four different product lines, each one created by a well know fashion designer, with clothing and accessories for men and women.
 
Couturier and traditional wear designer, JJ Valaya, created a women’s and menswear line ‘Royal Sport’, which features simple, yet sharp tailoring, and a formal colour palette. Notable items include shirt dresses, and sculptural jackets for women.

Manish Arora’s line for River, ‘Disco Gypsy’, features Arora’s signature bright and modern take on Indian design. Printed casual wear for men and women is decorated with multi-coloured paisley and star print designs.
 
Suneet Varma’s womenswear line ‘Garden of Eden’ draws its inspiration from nature with a line of sarees featuring floral motifs. Finally, Akash N Soni’s menswear line ‘The Millennial Man’ sees the designer explore a more modern and youthful take on his classic design aesthetics.

“I have been inspired by the youth of India and that segment is hip and energetic. It is even for people who might be older and want to look like the current generation,” Soni told Vogue India about his designs for River.

“My collection includes the key elements that the Ashish N. Soni brand carries, and also aligns with River. In terms of the actual product, it is far more ready-to-wear, easy-going unlike my main line that’s more structured and formal.”

“The core idea of River was stylish accessibility,” Valaya told Vogue India.

“What do Karl Lagerfeld, Roberto Cavalli, Jimmy Choo, Versace, Victor & Rolf, Lanvin and Kenzo have in common? The fact that they are all super luxury brands, which at some point of time collaborated with Swedish fast-fashion brand, H&M. And I am happy to say that River is at the forefront of a similar revolution in India.”