It was a sari-free zone. Lovebirds founder-designers Gursi Singh and Amrita Khanna made their London Fashion Week debut with a collection called “India: IYKYK,” or if you know, you know, with the aim of smashing a few preconceptions about Indian culture, and fashion.

“We actually revisited our collective memory of the country, staying away from the clichés. We went slightly further to show what our home is about,” said Singh. The duo explored different types of craft, including chintz, “and we’re really excited about that. We’re not reinventing it, but we are making it slightly more relevant.”

Singh and Khanna worked with block-printing artisans to rework, disrupt and re-layer classic chintz blocks, then trained artisans to brush over the printed cloth by hand. Chintz appeared in the flower prints on roomy, embroidered black jackets, trousers and shorts, and on sheer, fluttery skirts and tops.

The pieces were a fitting precursor to a big exhibition called “Chintz,” which will take place at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London starting next September. It will look back on four centuries of the colorful, hand-drawn fabric that was born in south India.

The designers also turned handmade linen fabric into a cute blue-and-white checkerboard pattern for babydolls and long strapless dresses. They were printed with the vintage school chart graphics from the 1970s and 1980s, when the designers were young students.

“This is the India we already know. We are just looking at it through the contemporary fashion lens,” said Khanna, who styled the looks with flip-flops and some with kitten heels.

Standout looks included breezy cotton shirtwaist dresses, and shorter, strappier ones with folds and pin tucks, in a rainbow of pastels. Sheer layered skirts and trousers that sparkled with embroidery also caught the eye, as did graphic dots on dresses that were hand-block-printed.

These designers certainly love fabric, but sometimes used too much, as in the dresses with large pannier-style pockets at the side, and the multitude of car-wash pleats sprouting from tops and skirts. But it was a sweet collection that offered an intimate view of India, and allowed show guests to look beyond the saris, spices and baskets of marigolds.