As a child, Nikhil of famous Shantanu & Nikhil would visit the hallowed precincts of the Golden Temple and notice how the Sikh volunteers dressed in long loose kurtas would dutifully undertake their duties with humility and servility while serving men and women freshly made meal during langar. Cut to 2016, the length of kurtas wore by the Sikh community continues to remain the same.
For Nikhil, weaving all his experience of watching the community members while paying obeisance in religious shrines or standing in queues at airports of New York and London into his menswear collection, was long overdue. “I have been influenced by the Sikh community. My grandmother would narrate me stories of their heroics and I have been visiting the Golden Temple even year. In fact, I am half Sikh myself. For creating the menswear collection I have taken the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre of 1919 as the reference point. It was a traumatic incident no doubt. As responsible designer I have not shown the blood and gore. So we have beautifully conveyed the positive thought that the concept of peace and love is necessary and needs to be respected by everyone. The colour palette and shape respectfully highlight the Sikh era,” says Nikhil, while giving the finishing touches to his collection at Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2016 in Gurugram.
Kurtas worn by different sects of Sikhs have been made in a way that they look modern and can be worn by urbane men in various functions. “Kurtas worn by Nihang are distinctive; they are unusually long. So we have made them look fashionable by giving them an avant garde look. We have used mill made fabric and created textures and used them as embellishments. Our jackets have been well structured. We have used leather belts. The outfits have been created for the fashion show yet they are not classy costumes meant just for exhibition. Contemporarising the clothes is an essential prerequisite to be in sync with the dressing sensibilities of the modern man, who likes to dress eclectically which matches international standard.”
Phulkari community has been given a miss as the basic theme of the collection would have gone haywire.
“Then it would have been celebration and we do not want to do that at this juncture. This is why I decide to steer clear of embroidery. They are practical functional clothes. We have made it up by making well finished, technologically advanced clothes which can breathe and as functional clothing.”
A model in a military jacket
Shedding light on the relevance of showcasing this in today’s time, Nikhil says it has a connection between the psychology of men existing in those days and now. “I have shown the strength and valour of the Sikh men. If we go back to history the community has been at the receiving end yet they have shown resilience and emerged as successful entrepreneurs, Armymen and professionals. And we felt that their background would strike a bond with Indian men, who like to experiment when it comes to their wardrobe. They may be living in Bangalore, Chennai or Bombay they do not mind wearing clothes from another part of the country. And most importantly they are more Indian than ever before.”
Culture is the dominant theme behind the collection.
“As designers we are connected with our roots. Last time, it was Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. This time, we have made shoulder lengths, brooches. Nihang and different sects of Sikh wear such kurtas. And this time I thought why don’t I borrow a leaf from their dress style.”
And how many kurtas has he generated. “Enough to last you a long time,” he says before concluding our conversation.
