Shantnu and Nikhil need no introduction for fashionistas. The designer duo, who specializes in women’s wear, hosiery, menswear, bridal wear and accessories, is a name to reckon with. Their aesthetics remain unparalleled, bringing a unique blend of ‘structure meets fierce glamor’ to their clothing.
Recently, designers added another feather to their hat by launching a flagship store in the Mehrauli district of New Delhi. Along the same lines, we caught up with Shantanu Mehra for a free chat, where the fashion designer shared great insights into the ethos of their designs, the importance of fashion innovation, sustainability, the effects of the pandemic on business, and much more. Edited excerpts:
Inside Mehroli Store. (Source: Public Relations Bulletin)
Why did you decide to use Mehrauli as the space for your new store?
When you look at the Mehrauli ride, especially the Sumbawa complex, it was almost like the Indian version of Rodeo Drive. You have some of the best luxury brands, and some of the best designer fashion in the country to retail right here. It is a natural choice for any designer to be a part of this ecosystem, which has been built over the years. For us, being surrounded by the history of India, with the famous Qutub Minar and fleeting modernity in line with history giving way to it, was a natural choice.
I was the first design house in India to incorporate contemporary silhouettes into lehengas – a departure from heavy, traditional embroidery, and continuing with tradition. Can you tell us about your design ethos?
This is our signature style statement. From the very beginning of our brand journey, we knew we had to be a little bit against trend in our design philosophy. When I say the opposite trend, we want to talk about another story about India, one that doesn’t necessarily talk about heavy textiles or textiles or heavy heritage. All the embroideries, however, are the shapes, the silhouettes, the details, the decadent tones, and the understated color palette, which sits against the brown leather beautifully. From the very beginning, we have tried to break the stereotypes associated with Indian fashion. And I think we could do that very early in our career, because we were a bunch of design artists and talent. We have tried to create a very hybrid approach to Indian fashion that has all the ingredients of Indo-Western and ethnic influences that come and are part of our design DNA. And for us, blinds have always been the pillar around which pretty much everything else revolves: structure meets fierce luster.
All of these factors gave us a chance to look at some traditional silhouettes with a bit more fun. A lehenga does not necessarily need the cholis for which it is known but can be worn as a voluminous skirt with a curtain with a blouse, which does not necessarily need to carry the burden of a dupatta. All this was done keeping in mind the young urban Indian sitting in front of us. Lots of these are bold and confident brides and grooms, decision makers, and thought leaders. I feel like this is the market we’ve been working for for many years and I feel like the market is now where we wanted it to be. Now, the modern bride and groom don’t want to be weighed down by tradition. But at the same time, they want to keep the nuances of the Indian heritage alive but with a lightness of form. This is where silhouettes and simplicity, even in festive clothes, become even more interesting.
Natural light, whitewashed walls and modern architecture full of tradition cover the port. (Source: Public Relations Bulletin)
How has your brand responded to the sustainability movement, which is now a huge part of the industry?
Sustainability has different connotations for different people and different brands interact with sustainability in their own way. When I look at it through my lens, when I speak as a stylist, and for other stylists, I think we’ve always had sustainability for us. We are a custom brand, so for us, everything is made to measure, everything is top secret in their approach, which means we are not fast fashion and can never be fast fashion. You invest in a particular season with many patterns and shades, then take the orders on them and then the next season. You’re actually doing two big seasons!
This is in contrast to fast fashion, where you basically do six collections a year. I think by default, fashion designers all over the world and most of those in India, we’ve always been sustainable in this aspect.
What are the primary influences of your design?
I think we’ve always had that approach to meeting Heritage Courage. Of course, our heritage comes from some degraded architectural values. All over the world, when you look at architectural value, there are certain geometries, influences that we bring from our design philosophy. I feel this works. We are not Mughal-inspired architecture, but more Art Deco, playing with geometric shapes. If you observe carefully Mughal architecture, you will find some nuances that are very geometric in form and I feel we present that.
There was always that hidden heritage within the guts. Then came the bravery with the silhouettes and the shapes and the drapes and I think we always give that a try. We were also in fact the first to introduce in 2013-2014 the hybrid form of the saree through the concept of the saree. Instead of making lehengas, we started in 2009, by making a version of the gowns. The voluminous gowns, inspired by the size of lehenga, cholis, and how lehenga can become a garment for us. We made oversized gowns, way to lingas! We tried to be as experimental as possible and then suddenly gowns became this new rage, from 2010 to 2015. In fact, even now, when you look at it, gowns have really replaced one or two traditional silhouettes and become a mainstay of jobs in India. . If we look at the Indian celebration, we look at four to five functions in a large number. The dress has become a staple in at least one, if not two, jobs.
It’s kind of daring, it keeps the Indian heritage alive, but also makes it more fun and playful, without ignoring the market and still relevant to the ceremonial side of the business. I think we pretty much set the tone for the hijab when we introduced men’s curtains in 2015 or 2016. That’s when we changed the game and brought a bit of innovation into menswear, which was in a traditional Nehru neck ecosystem. So, we thought about how to spice up a very masculine look with a little feminine touch. I feel this also brought a bit of gender fluidity into our DNA brand philosophy and our men became a little bit feminine in terms of the way we put it, which was beautifully accepted. Our blinds are starting to be copied everywhere else, which also brings us to the point that when you innovate with us with a strong sense of market in them, a strong sense of marketing in them, the world follows. I feel that because of that we were able to add a little masculinity to our women’s clothing, a little patriotic-chic flavour, and some military influences came in. I feel that today we are in a good place where there are intertwined feminine and masculine energies between man and woman. I think that’s something that made us go further in terms of innovation.
Tones of gold, ivory and blue make the space come alive. (Source: Public Relations Bulletin)
You mentioned that your clothes are fluid by nature. Can you elaborate?
With our brand new S&N, if you look at this collection, you’ll always find a very strong woman, a woman who almost works hand in hand with a man, both wearing hues in a similar color palette. There is a similarity in the way we bring this heritage in both forms. This path of sexual transformation began about four years ago. In fact, it goes beautifully into our couture side of the business too. When you see our womenswear and menswear sitting together, there is a language they both speak. There’s a little force that goes into our menswear, and then you’ll see a similar resonance of softness happen. You see this interwoven energy in your product and will continue to do so, in our journey going forward as well.
Has the pandemic affected the way you think and the entire process of creating your designs?
No, in fact, the pandemic as far as we can say has been a spoiler, I feel a deep cleanse is required in the system. Innovation was a huge loss – there was so much commercialization of fashion before COVID that we forgot there was such a thing as exclusivity or innovation. I feel like with COVID, it’s back in a big way.
There is a lot of value given to design now, to the process of how design starts at a certain point and ends at a certain point. There is a major rethinking of the classics and the timelessness of those classics, and how they can be reinvented and brought in with a bit of modernity. I feel that the concept of “less is more” is now emerging again.
We’ve been part of this innovation ecosystem since 2012. So for us, the pandemic hasn’t really been a huge challenge, because we’ve been really bothering ourselves as fashion creators, always challenging ourselves to be a little ahead of the market. This is how we started our career. So for us, COVID basically reinforced the fact that everything we’ve been doing in the past five or six years has been the right thing.
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