Growing up in a rapidly globalising and couture-loving environment in Mumbai, discovering their love for designing along the way to competing with the likes of Thomas Tait and interacting with the big names in fashion like Anna Wintour and Roberto Cavalli… it’s been one hell of a dream run for sisters Tina and Nikita Sutradhar.
“I was watching Miss World on TV — the year Yukta Mookhey won — and I was amazed by the different dresses worn by the contestants,” Tina, 25, reminisces about her first fascination with fashion. But things didn’t get serious until younger sister Nikita did a basic design course in a college in Mumbai and realised her love for it. For Tina, the turning point was fashion marketing, because that is when she realised she missed being involved in designing.
So together they pursued a degree in Pattern Cutting, progressing onto doing a BA (Hons) in Womenswear at London College of Fashion and graduated in June 2013.
“Our visa had expired and we had to return. It was also a time when we were pondering ‘what next?’ We had two collections but not enough funds to start off on our own. Therefore, we began looking for jobs and applying for competitions.” That move seems to have paid off. Reaching the semi-finalists of the H&M Design Awards 2014 with their new-found couture label MIUNIKU gave them the confidence to apply for the coveted LVMH Young Fashion Designer prize.
The powerhouse jury for the contest included designers Karl Lagerfeld, Nicolas Ghesquière (creative director of the house of Louis Vuitton) and Marc Jacobs besides others. “It was an amazing experience and we got to meet all our dream designers whose works we have been following,” Tina recalls the excitement. Elle magazine notes that the sisters ‘grabbed attention with a maximalist take on minimalism for their 2013 thesis collection at the London College of Fashion’, and they received the Special Jury Prize for it. This opened more doors for them into the global fashion area.
One of the doors led them to the Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience 2014 held at Dubai recently. There they showcased their pool-inspired Spring collection alongside seven other international designers at the Dubai Mall. Tina labels the experience ‘surreal’ and it had to be what with designer Roberto Cavalli, supermodel and former Victoria's Secret Angel Karolína Kurková, and Franca Sozzani, Editor, Vogue Italia , seated in the first row.
Now they are back to the question – what next?
“We want to now move forward with the brand. There has been a lot of interest from the international press and stockists. We are currently available at Opening Ceremony in New York and Los Angeles, and soon in Japan as well. Our Spring 2015 collection will be available in Milan, Jakarta and other international markets,” lists Tina, who along with Nikita currently works out of their studio in Mumbai.
With a palette full of dreams and sights on the international runway, the sisters are just getting started.
