Liberators of couture

Decidedly anti-trend, and resolutely blurring the lines between masculine and feminine, and the old and new, Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra are taking it a step further, diffusing their couture into a new luxury label. Three young women, each a testament to talent and grit, play muse.

- Natasha Khurana

On Raja Kumari: Epaule sari gown, S&N by Shantanu & Nikhil. Embellished shoes, Christian Louboutin. Earrings, Lara Morakhia

RAJA KUMARI, 33

RAPPER

“THE PIECES FIT ME SO PERFECTLY, AND MY BODY TYPE ISN’T LIKE EVERYONE ELSE’S. EVERYTHING DRAPED PERFECTLY, LIKE COUTURE”

Raja Kumari or Svetha Rao’s performance repertoire began in classical Indian dance when she was six and growing up in Los Angeles, surrounded by the words of Lauryn Hill and Tupac. “America will always make you feel that kind of pressure to make you assimilate, but I never wanted to give up the other part of me. So I started making music. It was my expression and rebellion,” she asserts. She spent seven years behind the scenes, writing songs for stars like Gwen Stefani and Iggy Azalea, but “that desire for a South Asian woman to speak for herself never went away.” In 2016, she released her fi rst album The Come Up and moved to India. “I always wanted to modernise what I did in my dance, so Raja Kumari is this collection of every strong female character I’ve ever played. I think that speaking your truth and seeing a woman stand up and be authentic is inspiring.”

Playing with volume and structure, and with a devotion to form, Shantanu & Nikhil turn the landscape of Indian wear classics into something novel, something that all good design aspires to become: a modern classic.