A Cut Above

Shantanu & Nikhil have pulled off a menswear coup. In four short years, the designer brothers have established themselves as leading game players with a vintage India aesthetic that finds favour with the modern man. Now they r̓e ready to take on the world

- Shivangi Lol Ayekar

When Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra kickstarted the inaugural edition of Van Heusen + GQ Fashion Nights in 2015, they received a standing ovation, for a powerful menswear showcase that stirred up feelings of nostalgia and pride. Titled “Cabinet Mission”, the grey and monochromatic collection saw fitted achkans, bandhgalas and kurtas with drapes and bold buttons, paired with tailored-to-perfection Jodhpurs. The kind of clothes that Jawaharlal Nehru and VK Krishna Menon would’ve stocked their closets with. It was a clever thought: Style in a newly independent India was represented by a set of immaculately dressed gentlemen, and who better than the country’s premier statesmen to draw inspiration from?

Until this moment, however, Shantanu & Nikhil’s menswear had languished as a sideshow to its womenswear. Now, having found a new USP, the designers took their story forward with each season: India’s past for a future generation, with new flourishes and details like leather trimmings, embroidered patches and regimental brooches. At the designers’ recently concluded standalone couture show in Delhi’s storied Bikaner House, a sea of colour – green, pink, magenta, orange – made its way into a progressive collection. We caught up with the duo to discuss the fear of repetitive fashion and the future of their “India story”.

You completely overhauled your entire collection just a few days before your recent couture show. What happened?

Nikhil: I was running on the beach and saw baskets of colour lying in different corners – everything was white, orange, red, blue. That’s when I decided we would change the collection. Without doing this, I think it would’ve looked similar to last year’s. Adding colour made it feel younger.

Do you ever fear that your menswear will get repetitive?