Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra

“The designers’fraternity was literally on the street for 6- 8 months.” months”

Q. In these 12 years that you’ve been in the fashion world, which moment do you consider as your ‘ big break?’ A. Well we really feel it’s yet to come. But the one time our work really got recognised was when actor Shilpa Shetty wore one of our gowns at the IIFA awards in 2006. That set off a trend and today women have started wearing gowns for their cocktail functions instead of lehengas. Q. Tell us a bit about the struggles you had to go through to establish yourself? A. Though we haven’t struggled too much, the one time we really had a tough time was when our shop, along with other designer stores got demolished at MG Road. The designers’ fraternity was literally on the street for 6- 8 months and had no direction. Q. What does the Delhi Couture Week mean to you? A. It’s a platform to be really creative. It’s the place where you can do any- thing you want and your opinion really matters. It’s one of those opportunities for us to let people know what we want to say. Q. Tell us something about the collection you showcased at the 3rd Delhi Couture Week concluded recently. This collection of ours titled ‘ She is the One,’ is an ode to the woman of today. With this collection, we want to portray a strong woman who says ‘ there’s a hurricane in me’. This woman has gone through a crazy time but is a survivor. So the silhouettes are hard, the clothes are dark, vintage and not flowery. This is a stark contrast to last time’s Perfume collection which was soft and delicate. Q. What has been your inspiration? A. We get inspired by spaces and places around us. Right now, there’s an undertone of darkness all around us. There’s been a barrage of bad news since the past one year. That affects our work. Especially when we talk about the Indian woman, there’s so much lag— on one hand, we call her bharat mata and on the other, we rape her. Q. Black is not usually a colour associated with Indian weddings. How come you’ve used so much of it in Couture Week, which is all about wedding couture? A. Indian weddings have changed over the years and have become pretty liberal. There’s even a concept of theme weddings. So, even if someone doesn’t want to wear black on the wedding day, it can be worn for a cocktail or a bachelorette party. Q. Talking about the current season, what do you think are the colours and fabrics of this season? A. It’s a pop colour palette this season. You’ll find a bright orange amongst navy blues, gold with greens. And the fabrics are mostly antique like linens and quilts.