Designers Gaurav Gupta and Shantanu-Nikhil unfurl their plans for a bold spring that is more about personality than gender

Bringing together the delicacy of hand-woven fabrics with the sharpness of his signature gravity-defying, patterned designs, designer Gaurav Gupta is set to showcase his summer/resort collection — The (Un)folding — at the opening of the Lakmé Fashion Week 2019.

Gaurav said his collection will bring together elements that are “unique” to Indian design, highlighting his love for origami-folding and fluid-structural construction through embellishments and textiles. He has included many first-time elements such as Lucknawi chikankari draped into demi-couture dresses, a particular tone of yellow that is traditionally called ‘basanti’, which means the essence of sun-lit spring and Banarasi brocades, which are turned  into deconstructed lehengas, perfect for a modern bride on a destination wedding. Even the menswear features chikankari and brocades in unexpected ways.

The colour palette features mostly pastel shades like powder blue, yellow, ivory and rose. Along with his scaffold-like pattern, these tones are Gaurav’s vision of a glamorous and powerful spring of 2019.

Fashion designers, Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra are  also going to present their first-ever grand finale for the LFW. Inspired by the beauty theme for the season, Recruit SS’19 promises to take the audience on an empowering journey of the culmination of modern authority in the contemporary Indian framework of beliefs and will highlight the evolution that has led to the emancipation of the millennial Indian woman.

This time they are giving red a new dimension in  matte flavour. Now this is a colour that they have never dabbled with. They are then sort of weaving it in with a story that has a strong emotional connect of valour, pride and integrity which pretty much sets the tone for this time’s collection.

The designers feel like being “reborn in the world of fashion” as they call it their “ultimate exam.” As Nikhil said, “It has happened to us after 18 years and there isn’t anything more exciting than this. The first Shantanu and Nikhil finale on a platform like Lakme Fashion Week which has continuously given fashion and makeup a new dimension.”

Added Shantanu, “It is almost like being reborn in the world of fashion. We still feel like ‘Is this really happening to us?’ It is like the ultimate fashion show for us....as if it is our first and last fashion show. This is the ultimate exam in the fashion world.” 

Talking about how much this collaboration is going to add responsibility to them as designers, Shantanu said: “First, we are always questioning ourselves at work and always looking to reinvent our styles and designs. We are looking for a disturbance in our equilibrium at work, so it is not unusual for us to be putting ourselves into this position.”

Added Nikhil, “As far as the responsibility is concerned, if you have a story to tell and you stick to it, just go full-throttle and that’s what we are doing. How do we make red, black and gold integrate seamlessly. Then sort of weave it in with a story that has a strong emotional connect of valour, pride and integrity that pretty much sets the tone for this collection.”

The designers have been focussing on gender-neutral clothing for the last few years as they introduced men to draped kurtas which is considered to be extremely feminine. “We have taken cue from that and moved to a line for a woman who is more empowered. The silhouettes are more structured which give her that opportunity to lead the path. It speaks of women’s abilities through silhouettes,” said Shantanu.

Talking about being a trend-setter, Nikhil said, “We’re always considered to be an anti-trend brand of design. Even the gender equality that we try to show is through the medium of couture, is more subdued and brings in a little more sanity but keeps it more occasion-driven. The focus is not only on the garment but on the wearer, there is a story to every garment.”

A brand that started in 2007, building it up was the toughest and most challenging task “but at the same time is the most fulfilling and it has taken us 14 years to understand what Shantanu & Nikhil as a brand mean to the world. This rude awakening has happened recently where we have fallen in love with the country we live in and feel the need to bring back some of those glorious moments of India and modernising it to cater to this new wave of the emerging market called the millennials,” said Shantanu.

They also feel that the Indian fashion industry has now realised the opportunity that lies in India’s history without having to depend on craftsmanship only.

(Lakmé Fashion Week is slated to kickstart from January 30 to February 3.