When we visit them, Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra's Noida workshop is a picture of chaos under control. It's barely two weeks since they've shifted to the new facility and it's a couple of days away from their show at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (with a theme based on Woody Allen's heroines). Clothes in varying stages of completion are being carried around.
Shantanu, the official business head of the team, is keying away on the comp and sending out invites for their show. “How can such an address not exist? The invite went to the same place last year,” Shantanu wonders aloud in response to an undelivered envelope. “And yes, I need a clothes rack here.” A little later Nikhil walks in with a problem concerning space allotment in the facility. It takes 20 seconds to resolve.
The light fittings and overhead pipes are a distinct caution board yellow against the concrete and black. When you point out that the colour scheme of the place looks like it's taken after Shantanu & Nikhil's recent line for Adidas, Shantanu smiles and says, “That's completely unintentional.”
It's been exactly a decade since the brothers launched the Shantanu & Nikhil label. “The progress has been like any design business,” says Nikhil. “It's been gradual, not exponential, where we lose our minds. It's been gradual for every step, and this has helped us enhance our capabilities for a larger spectrum,” Nikhil adds.
Shantanu, who holds an MBA from Ohio State University, is the business head of the label, while Nikhil holds a Masters in Fashion from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise, Los Angeles. It was while working in the U.S. in 1999 that the two decided to quit their jobs there and come to India to set up their clothing label.
Risk takers
“When we stepped into India in 2000, we left our cushy jobs. We became risk-takers then in the U.S. We were entrepreneurs first, then designers. We were fortunate enough that when we landed here the fashion sector wasn't much developed and was, consequently, more forgiving,” recalls Shantanu.
It was this nascence within the Indian fashion industry that gave them a “chance to experiment and grow higher on the learning curve.”
“Right from day one, we wanted to do something people had never seen before. We wanted our clothes to have shock value, along with aesthetics meant to be understood. Designers here were doing Indian wear, and couture was the only buzzword then and we were going to have a fusion of western sensibilities and Indian heritage. We were ready to be ridiculed but were also positive that people would acknowledge us,” says Shantanu.
Present goals are consistent with the past. “We still believe in the fusion of the East and West. It takes four to five years of perseverance to make people sit up and notice,” Shantanu says.
After establishing a niche in fusion wear for women and a contemporary Indian line for men, the motto for the label now is to diversify. The first step in that direction has probably been the label's tie-up with Adidas on a range of lifestyle sportswear for both men and women. Inspired by street signs in New York, the yellow-black-grey line has been quite well received.
“In New York, you look at the caution boards and zebra crossings and see how everything around is so busy. The first thing that comes to mind when you think of New York are the jersey net tees, the shorts… We couldn't have done it without New York,” Shantanu says.
He describes the partnership with Adidas as something waiting to happen. “We've both been avid sportspersons. I've played tennis for a while and Nikhil's been a golfer,” he says.
Brand extension
“Our love affair with brand extension has started. We're now ready to open up our ready-to-wear line. Also, by the end of this year we plan to have 100 stores with independent positioning,” Shantanu reveals.
Also on its way is a bag line that is “high on the evening wear and luxury quotient,” which will sell from the Shantanu & Nikhil stores.
“By 2015, we should be ready for a global brand extension,” says the designer.
While the duo maintains a distinct demarcation in their respective roles, isn't there an overlap? “We were very clear about our strengths. We were both piggy-banking on each other's capabilities. At the same time Nikhil has learnt more of the business aspect and I've graduated into a creative person. We have an open dialogue environment,” explains Shantanu.
Shantanu & Nikhil, as a label, has had more career highlights than one. One was dressing up Amitabh Bachchan for season two of Kaun Banega Crorepati . “In the first season he was only in suits. This time, the brief was to be more edgy. In the second season the show was more personalised. He was interacting more with people,” Shantanu recalls. “The whole concept was of taking him back to the 1970s and his cult movies with a contemporariness. People were shocked to see him in leather jackets with stitched details, floral shirts and corduroy trousers. Soon the word started spreading… If Mr. Bachchan became more experimental with his look in movies that were happening around the same time, like Bunty Aur Babli , I think we can take credit for that,” he grins. “It did a lot for us in menswear.”
Then there was Shilpa Shetty in a green emerald gown in IIFA, just post- Big Brother. “It was the first gown that we did. Gown and storytelling happened from there,” says Shantanu.
Serena Williams sporting Shantanu & Nikhil on the cover campaign of Cosmopolitan magazine was another feather, which prompted the duo to come up with their cocktail dresses line.
“Our dream is to be more accessible and marketable around the world. But we feel we still have a lot more to do in India. The day we achieve that and break through all the myths, we'll go global,” Shantanu says.
With one decade behind them, how does the coming one look? “You can see us taking an organic and inorganic growth approach. You're going to see more corporatisation. That's what will take Indian fashion places. The future is in ready-to-wear,” Shantanu signs off.
