MEN OF THE MATCH

New verticals, multiple stores, diverse collaborations, and strategic ventures, Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra chat with Grazia about the incredible momentum that the duo have built up in both, their design aesthetic and burgeoning business game plan

- MEHERNAAZ DHONDY

GRAZIA: It’s been an incredible journey of almost 25 years. Has there been a shift in the ideas that you started with, as opposed to the design and aesthetic guardrails that the brand balances on currently?
NIKHIL MEHRA: We were always doing things that we believe represented us in silhouette and structure. We never focused too hard on embroideries in the initial years, it was always about drapes and silhouette, and we were always genderfluid in our heads in terms of how we saw the brand. I’d also say there were many firsts in our lives: The first time we dressed cricketers, the first time Amitabh Bachchan dressed with a designer for KBC, a stint with Hrithik Roshan where we dressed him for Dhoom 2 with Anaita [Shroff Adajania], then Shilpa [Shetty] wore us at the green carpet for Big Brother. The real pivot, however, was when we dressed men in draped kurtas – and eventually everyone was copying the asymmetrical kurta silhouette. Then Mumbai Indians happened – we started designing their jerseys since 2010, so that was another first. And now we’re the first to do launch a luxury pret cricket brand called Shantnu Nikhil Cricket Club (SNCC) in a cricket frenetic country. We’re constantly evolving.