I met Namrata, or as most people call her “Nami”, through a friend. I was told she was fun, loved to travel, and was a fashion designer here to open a shop in Goa. Obviously I was like, “umm, I need to meet her now”. Match made in heaven.

Introducing Namrata Puri of Doe Designs

This cute fashion designer was born in bustling Bombay but moved around before settling in Delhi for her younger years. Having an insatiable appetite to travel (and food, as I’ve had many long lunches with her), she decided to go to Australia for four years.

Good thing she did, because trendy Melbourne sparked her interest in fashion. She had been limited in Delhi and was finally able to experiment with clothing choices. As you can imagine, it started to become the center of her life… and more exciting than learning about economics.

After school, she kept following her passion of fashion while styling on Bollywood sets and lots of ad shoots. Later she worked as a personal shopper for the rich and famous, if you can call that lucky job work! It wasn’t enough; while traveling through Nice, France, checking out all the boutiques, she knew she was ready to make her own line putting together all the worldly influences she had soaked up.

Nami started out making clothing for herself and naturally people were asking where it was from. She started making saris and chic modern blouses in pastels and neon colors. Since then, she’s added on a resort collection with flowy skirts, kurtas, and crop tops, as well as some natural looking muted earth tone shades in the line.

mixes of flowy skirts, gypsy tribal crop tops which are so in right now, and delicate Indian silks, below are pieces from the detailed and colorful sari’s

how can you look at these and not wish you were Indian and able to dress like this all the time!? I cannot wait to go to an Indian wedding so Nami can dress me like a supermodel- the one below is perfectly suitable for barbie and I love it. I kind of want to wear the top with my jean overall skirt but Nami would never let me out like that.

Doe Designs The Brand:

Doe Designs is pretty self-explanatory. It represents simple elegance like that of a little female deer in the jungle. We may not have a jungle back home, but we can all relate to the beauty of a doe.

 “I always felt there was a gap in the market for simple chic wearable Indian clothes. Everything seemed too heavy and overworked. I wanted something that could be worn to a beach wedding as well as to a function in the city. It’s about being perfectly simple yet chic and trendy. Our Designs were made to trot across the globe.” -Namrata Puri

Her collection of Indian wear consists of sari’s made of pure chiffons and georgettes net and lace, anarkali’s, kurtas and lehengas with intricate embroidery and traditional gota work.

The additional resort collection consists of maxi skirts with sexy slits, hi-lo dresses, tiny crop tops, and palazzos pants. I’ve picked up the pastel yellow maxi skirt- not that any of my readers would be surprised. I mention in almost all my packing posts about the absolute necessity of having a gorgeous maxi skirt in your bag.  

I’m sure you guys know that India is a bit more conservative. Namrata selling crop tops to girls in Delhi was a huge hit! She is bridging together two cultures seamlessly (was that my first pun?).  You know she’s done a good job when I’m tempted to buy a sari and I’m like, “I could wear it to dinner… or to walk the dog. I’ll find a reason.”

The skirts come with no slits for the conservative women, two for serious party girls, and one for the cheeky but sweet girl. I actually really love the overlay one on the far left below.

This line is sweet but has a subtle sex appeal, much like her fashion icon, Miranda Kerr.

Other influences are supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio and Indian star, Kalki Koechlin (who is actually french, from Pondicherry, India) who is adorable and always looks dressed laid back and non-fussy; makes sense that Kalki dresses this way since her parents were hippies who came to India in the 60’s!

bling bling… this is insanely gorg!

Doe Designs For the Traveler

As an avid traveler herself, I asked Namrata why her line is PERFECT for us globetrotting girls. I can vouch that the fabrics are lightweight and pack easily; they’re great for hot weather (especially if you got for the double slit!) Here’s what she has to say:

“The maxi skirts are easy to wear anywhere in India given they are long and move beautifully across the entire world because of their style and elegant design.”

“They’re great for mixing and matching. You could wear them to the market to stroll around, to the beach with your bikini top or even a dinner date teaming it up with one of our lace or cotton crop tops.”

Saris are her second hottest selling item. She modernizes them with an ombre dye, which is simple yet very popular here. Beige loving American moms could learn a thing or two from the color-loving Indian women. Only one thing better than seeing an Indian women in a sari is seeing her in one of Nami’s pieces of ombre art!

in LOVE with this! Indian women have it good!

pretty chica in a sari, Nami rockin’ her own skirt in Spain, and our friend India wearing the palazzo pants which sold out at the pop up shop! Obvi, look how cute they are! Love.

Keep an eye on her facebook page for her next collection, which will feature beautiful silk and crepe de chin kaftans, slip on kimonos, as well as chiffon jumpsuits! I sort of live for kimonos.

I like to pretend like I’m her assistant and send her links like a little birdy whispering, “Nami, make me something like this…” She lets me feel special like, “Yeah, okay Rach, I’ll keep that in mind…” Although truly she would take custom orders (check out her contact information below if you’re interested in that)

details from a pink sari

Where Can You Purchase Doe Designs?

She has a shop at DLF city in Gurgaon, New Delhi. During season time in Goa (October-February) you can find Doe Designs at Thalassa pop-up shop and her colorful stall at the Saturday Night Market.

If you’re not in India, don’t worry, just shoot her a message on Doe Designs Facebook page or e-mail her at at namrata [dot] doedesigns [at] gmail [dot] com. If you’re in India and need to reach her, you can call at +91 9801487916.

Make sure to follow along on Doe Designs Instagram to keep seeing these gorgeous colorful outfits and if you want to see what Nami is up to in India follow her personal IG here. Thanks for taking part in this, Nami.

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