The elusive Nikhil Mehra, one half of designer-brother duo Shantanu & Nikhil, was in town recently and The Telegraph caught up with him for a chat. “I like to be in my universe and conversations can drive me towards a different direction of creativity because you think you have ideas and a question can stir you into a different space. I’d rather stay away,” smiled Nikhil when we asked why he kept away from the press. Excerpts from the candid chat.
You love coming to Calcutta...
There is a certain amount of substance that men (in Calcutta) have in terms of design and it taught me a few things. In 2013, we created a drape for men in kurtas and it was very well accepted in Calcutta. So, it was the start of something new for me and then for the brand and then we took it to Hyderabad and Delhi and then it just blew out of proportion across the country where everyone is trying to wear drapes and asymmetrical shapes. It all started from Calcutta. I have a nice feeling towards it.
People don’t usually say that about Calcutta....
Its funny you say this... it’s mostly the Calcuttans who are not in Calcutta speak like this at parties and the intellectual bunch. If you understand the innuendos, what they are really trying to say is that Calcutta is pretty cool. I have lots of friends here who are not necessarily only in Calcutta but they bring a sense of stay which is very important even in design, that consistency. Sometimes it may be taken as arrogance which is fine because consistency does create that.
You have always said this about Calcutta and credited them with a sense of fashion that they are often not credited with.
Also this fierceness. When you think of the goddesses, the reason why we look up to them is because of the fierceness and the power they hold, being able to keep the balance and I feel that the intellectuals here, there is no gender. Women and men both have the same kind of power and that’s beautiful for creativity.
Where do you see men’s fashion going?
There is a massive blurring line between men and women now. That movement in India was always there but it’s coming into prominence more so now, post Covid and that’s happened because there is a sense of reality that's coming into being and there is also that sense of peace. We all know we are guests here and we are maximising all experiences. When lines blur, fashion comes into a whole new space. If you see in the past few seasons or even in a year, fashion has become a playground for pure creativity, which pre-Covid wasn’t the case. It got really boring pre-Covid. Every collection was to sell, but now there are collections coming out, which you think are like fantasy coming true. People are living their fantasy on the streets all over the world and India has always lived its fantasy on the street. If you see a man wearing a lungiin Paris, now you’ll accept it but you would have thought he was crazy a few years ago.It’s the gender fluidity that I am proud of that India is beginning to accept.
Guess what, at a recent wedding in Bombay, there were three guys who were talking about the make-up they did for the evening. I applauded it. This is big for India. Even men have bad days. Even we have dark circles and issues with our skin. I was so proud.This probably means that it’s now time make-up for men is an important category to look at, which means clothing for men is an important category to look at, which means a whole new industry and space to applaud men. We don’t applaud men who are good fathers. We presume they should be good fathers. We don’t applaud men who weep or write poetry. It takes a lot for a man to write his feelings down on paper. There is also a lot that men require in India,like love, compassion, and acceptance, which I think now the process has started.
What do you think has brought about the change? Is it social media?
Humans are supposed to communicate. I was sitting in a park at 5.30 in the morning, on the grass, with my yoga mat and I saw all the insects started coming close to me and it was so beautiful to see that insects accepted me. I also accepted them. Nature’s job is to communicate. Humans stopped communicating. Now we have started again and that’s why the change has started to happen. Social media is the real form of communication whether it is about communicating your insecurities or celebrating yourself, you are still communicating and that’s helping us in design as well.
How are you bringing up your kids?
I think one of the most important things for parents is to listen to their children. I don’t tell them. I am listening to them. They have an opinion,I want to hear it and feel what they are feeling because their environment is completely different.
Finally, how do you look the way you do?
So fit...I make sure that my belly is not always full. There is always yearn for more and it gives you control. I am a vegetarian and I don’t smoke and hardly drink but I have a blast.