FASHION FORWARD

After 30 years in the business, Abraham & Thakore’s strategic plans for the upcoming decade will reinforce the brand’s quiet, modern voice and distinct cultural language

- MEHERNAAZ DHONDY

Almost a week after designer duo Abraham & Thakore showcased their Autumn/Winter 2022-23 collection at FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week, I got to sit with David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore across screens over a Zoom call. In sharp contrast to the starkness of this digital interview setting, last month saw a cosy room filled with warm hugs and clinking glasses as their most loyal customers, family, friends and well-wishers gathered not just to celebrate a stellar show and collection, but also to raise a toast to the prêt label that completed 30 years in the business. The nostalgic fashion chatter at the after-show cocktail could write itself into a retrospective profile on the designer duo – their astute design aesthetic, the black and white codes, their beginnings in 1992 when soon after they were joined by their third partner Kevin Nigli, their first collection at The Conran Shop in London, and the iconic ikat houndstooth print sari that made its way to the permanent archives of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Their most rewarding moment is, perhaps, their first-ever ramp show at India Fashion Week in Delhi in 2010, which gave them the space to explore the culture of where they came from as designers. With a collection that consisted of a play of saris, handloom, ikat, churidars and other Indian shapes, after a decade-plus of selling just dresses in “nice shops”. Using the past to define the future is what sets them apart – and their strategy has rendered them into a label that’s well on its way to building itself into a legacy brand.

GRAZIA: Your recent show at FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week was your first big outing since Reliance Brands Limited invested in your company for a majority stake investment. What has changed?