The masters minimalism

A&T’s David Abraham, Rakesh Thakore and Kevin Nigli talk about expansion plans, Satya Paul, and what keeps them going

While sifting through the thousands of garments that make up the archives of Abraham & Thakore (A&T) at their atelier in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, you realise that many of these would not be out of place in today’s trend-hungry market. Whether it is a double ikat cotton scarf from their first collection in 1992, a black handloom sari that opened their debut runway show in 2010, or a robe from 2017 printed with the Devanagari script, each item tells a story of a rare breed of fashion designers who create garments that never grow old.

Since launching their brand in 1992, David Abraham, Rakesh Thakore and Kevin Nigli have kept their design language simple: modern, clutter-free and far away from the highly ornate embroideries that have become synonymous with Indian fashion. They have based their design vocabulary in the textile heritage of India, while reimagining it in a contemporary way (they have reinvented ikat, jamdani and fine cottons by engineering the weaves). The trio has played an instrumental role in introducing the Indian customer to couture-ready textiles that are easy to wear, and relatively accessible (a sari starts from ₹17,000, and a blouse, ₹4,000).

A&T has also taken the modern Indian fashion story to the world—their houndstooth double ikat silk sari from the 2011 collection was part of a Victoria & Albert Museum show, The Fabric Of India, from 2015-16 in London.

I am meeting the three creative heads at their atelier two weeks after the announcement that they are the new creative directors of Satya Paul, a label well known for its bright prints, replacing designer Rajesh Pratap Singh. The three are also busy preparing for the expansion of A&T’s footprint across India—they are launching six stores in Metro cities this year. They currently have one store each in Delhi and Mumbai. A&T has been in an expansion mode since Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL) acquired a majority stake in 2022. RBL, the retail arm of the conglomerate Reliance Industries, acquired Satya Paul in 2018.

In an interview with Lounge, Abraham, Thakore and Nigli talk about working as creative directors for Satya Paul, expansion of their A&T brand and what keeps them going. Edited excerpts:

What’s your vision for Satya Paul? David Abraham (DA):

We have started conceptualising on the design; it’s just been two weeks. By autumn, hopefully, we will do our first drop. Satya Paul was one of the first brands that focused more on prints at a time when designers were working with embroideries. We are going to continue with that language. Satya Paul and A&T are similar in a way.

How?

Rakesh Thakore (RT):

Breaking the mould by looking at something traditional, deconstructing it and making a different design language.

It’s quite liberating to do another brand. For 30 years, we have worked within the confines of our design philosophy—trying to do maximalism with minimalism. Like, why use 20 colours, when one is enough—that’s us and we like it that way. With Satya Paul, the parameters are different. It’s a big challenge, but a nice change after three decades of A&T.

DA: How will you maintain the work balance between the two brands?

DA:

After Reliance, we have time now to do more creative things. There’s a lot of relief in terms of not being too worried about taking care of logistics, payments, social media, accounts, marketing.

Like David said, the parameters are different. We are going to work with a lot more colour than we do with A&T.

RT:

How did you zero in on your A&T design vocabulary?

DA:

Rakesh and I came from a contemporary space. We were always into minimalism. I think we were among the early designers who were interested in questioning the use of traditional textiles. Like, why should ikat be used in the same traditional way? This kind of thinking took shape at NID (National Institute of Design), where we met in the 1970s. That place was a culture shock. I came from a privileged family and seeing people in their Khadi kurtas walking barefoot, carrying jhola, it was a different world. There was so much freedom there.

Many designers passed out from there and are doing wedding wear and heavy embroideries. Our takeaway was very different. We took a path that was complicated for us but honestly, we wouldn’t have done it any other way.

A&T could have done shaadi clothes, and bought a fleet of RollsRoyce. But we don’t relate to it. We are offering clothes that you wear when you are not going to a wedding…clothes that you wear when you are out and about,

RT: Kevin Nigli:

going for work, lunches, dinners.

What made you stick with this philosophy for three decades?

DA:

We like balance. Balance in colours, motifs, shapes. When you work with the West for long, it shapes your thinking.

You first launched your brand abroad. Why not India?

DA:

There was no market in India as such. There was no business plan, to be honest. It was just random; we started the brand on a whim. We had some ideas that we thought were good and made some samples of scarves and kimonos, and started the business in 1992 with our little savings. When you don’t have much to lose, you are willing to take more risks.

We made a small collection of kimonos and scarves in double ikat at my Defence Colony (Delhi) apartment. An American buyer in Delhi put us in touch with the buying director from the Conran Shop (a then-iconic furnishings-to-home accessories company) in London. I went with a suitcase full of our stuff to London. The director liked it and bought it all. I used to rent a place in London, and cold call buyers. At that time, people would come, see our stuff and sometimes even buy. So, the word-of-mouth marketing helped. We would buy fabrics from markets like Lajpat Nagar, get embroideries done across

For any business to work, you need utmost honesty and trust with your co-founders. Otherwise, you can’t function, forget flourish.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, A&T