India is undoubtedly a nation of cricket fans. Shantnu & Nikhil are paying tribute to the country’s love of cricket through Shantnu Nikhil Cricket Club. For this spunky line featuring athletic-chic essentials, the duo tap into the adrenaline rush of their own childhood spent playing various sports. This latest offering from S&N by Shantnu Nikhil (the maison’s bridge brand to luxury) embraces the spirit of cricket in a unique amalgamation of the sport with the designers’ distinctive fashion shapes.
Cricketer Shubman Gill, who is the muse of this collection, says: “I am excited and honored to be the face of Shantnu & Nikhil’s new design language – Shantnu Nikhil Cricket Club. They have been the standard bearers of contemporary Indian fashion for a long time and I am keen to be a part of this new movement where cricket will finally find its way into a lifestyle conversation through its medium of luxury fashion.”
We take a trip down memory lane in conversation with the designers and learn more about the conception of SNCC.
Take us to your childhood. What sports did you enjoy the most and what was your relationship with them? As brothers, was the competitive spirit between you two high?
We were very athletic during our formative years. From golf, to tennis, to swimming, to cricket, you name it, and we’ve played it. We have also represented our school in various sports such as tennis and swimming. But cricket is what we really excel at. The games that we play in the parks of our residential neighborhoods or those of the school, are all encapsulated in a whirlwind of emotions. Even as kids, we were both competitive and often fought with each other, just to get the best out of each other. It is a personal belief that sports truly humble a person. Wins and losses energize the spirit and the mantra to never give up. Shantnu Nikhil Cricket Club is our ode to that.
How has your love of sports influenced your design philosophy?
The foundation of our childhood building revolved around playing various sports ranging from tennis, cricket, golf and swimming, excelling in most of them. Sport as a medium has had an incredible impact on how we shape our design career, and has been one of the strongest virtues of our design philosophy. As a brand, the smallest of our design ideas has been incubated around the concept of using innovative stretch fabrics and daring draping techniques that have defined agility of movement for us. The distinctive identity of a young and brave urban India and sportswear culture is so powerful that it is now defining the new Indian lifestyle and SNCC pays tribute to our love of sports.
Cricket culture is huge in India. Tell us more about how important SNCC is to the Shantnu & Nikhil brand.
Cricket was always a binding factor in our country. As a sport, it has brought people together across all prejudices and odds. There is an emotional connection that maintains cricket and it continues to deepen with each match, each new player that steps on the ground. We wanted to bring this emotional nostalgia with the force of fashion. SNCC makes cricket more than just a topic of conversation – it’s a lifestyle choice that people consciously think about. Cricket itself comes with a rich history and is a game that has its roots in fashion. As designers, it is our duty to evoke expression through the art we master. Fashion has always been a part of sports, we have just strayed away from the conventional sportswear route and ventured in a direction that none of the Indian designers have taken yet. .
We’ve seen the rise of sports-inspired aesthetics like tennis-core and golf-core. What would you say is the distinctive cricket aesthetic and how have you incorporated it into this line?
We have ventured into a whole new design aesthetic involving new shield details that have been designed specifically for SNCC. The crest has cricket overtones like the batsman’s badge allowing the customer to wear their love of the sport with pride. The lineup of the range is dedicated to preserving the game’s stylistic hallmarks on a canvas of season-friendly fabrics like flat knits and premium silks that highlight chic, athletic-inspired details. From essential tailoring pieces like retro-drenched varsity jackets, crest sweatshirts, sweater vests, cropped and classic polo shirts to classic up-dos: neckerchiefs, sneakers, bucket hats, belts; SNCC represents a vision of modern daywear injected with a jolt of much-needed youthful swagger.
The Shantnu Nikhil Cricket Club Collection will be available online at www.shantanunikhil.com and websites such as Ajio Luxe, Tata Cliq Luxury, Aza Fashions, Ogaan and The Collective starting November 20. The collection will also be available at the following S&N retailers: DLF Avenue Mall, Ambience Mall, DLF Promenade Mall and Mall of India Pacific Mall, in Delhi-NCR. The collection is also available at retail stores in Bangalore, Mumbai, Raipur, Amritsar and Ahmedabad.
Source: news.google.com