Shantanu-Nikhil’s stylish debut at Kala Ghoda

To break into the world of men’s fashion at a time when it was dealing with clichés, and menswear was only about couture, was quite a daunting task for Shantanu and Nikhil. But their constant effort in breaking stereotypes has led to a certain awareness in menswear fashion.
In the last 15 years, the designers have established themselves as the brand that ‘most stylish men’ trust when it comes to making a statement.Shantanu and Nikhil first took the concept of ‘less is more’ in men’s fashion from the ramp to their flagship unisex stores, and recently, the designers have come up with an exclusive menswear store, which has both occasion and ceremonial wear, at Kala Ghoda in Mumbai. The store defines the core essentials of the Shantanu-Nikhil brand – structure, linearity, minimalism, drapes – it is modernistic yet Indian. The grey concrete and brass metal details of the space compliments their razor-sharp tailoring and fluid designs. Talking about the evolution of men’s fashion in India in the last 15 years and the change they witnessed along their journey, Shantanu says, “When we established our brand in India in 2000, the DNA of the brand was always more inclined towards men.
When we did our first show in 2001, we showcased what fusion would mean to Shantanu and Nikhil – we were quite ahead of our times. For the first time we presented military inspired menswear with leather, velvets, all kinds of corduroys were used on sherwanis, the lengths were kissing the knee, slits were high, it had detailing which an Indian man had never seen on a Nehru collar or a sherwani.” “The first 2-3 shows that we did were with very masculine and structured looks, which was something completely new at that time. Those were the days when menswear was mostly focused on dressing the groom. We suddenly brought this contemporary edge which was devoid of any bling, but we only experimented with fabrics and details,” Shantanu adds. The concept of the sophisticated man who believes in less is more started taking shape from 2008. “We wanted to revolutionise the way Indian ensembles look. We have always had this love affair with the Nehru collar and have given it our own twist, lengths have become shorter; instead of churidars, we paired them with trousers very early on. All of this happened in the first 10 years of the brand and in 2013 we started playing with drapes, gave a twist to structures, fits and silhouettes with drapes. In 2013, we did drape kurtas, layered them with waistcoats and sherwanis.
We have seen a radical shift in our menswear, beginning with contemporary couture to creating drapes as our signature style. Till now, less is more was not the concept in menswear – we were building it. Now, in the last three years, men have been experimenting with colours and shapes.” Shantanu and Nikhil are the favourite designers of many stylish men in Bollywood –they have worked with Amitabh Bachchan, Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Arjun Rampal. “Dressing Mr Bachchan for the second season of Kaun Banega Crorepati was one of the milestones in our journey. While his look in the first season was all formal, we took him to the the 70s and 80s era and the look was quite talked about. When cricketers like Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Virendra Sehwag walked the ramp and cricket was being glamourised on the runway for the first time, we gave them a different look that combined sport and lounge look,” says Shantanu. One of the designer duo’s recent showcase in Mumbai, titled Cabinet Mission and based on the Partition, was a blend of structure, drapes, modernism and tradition. After Mumbai, they are set to launch their menswear stores in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad in July and August respectively.