HYDERABAD: Envisioned for luxury connoisseurs of Hyderabad, SHIVAN & NARRESH opens doors to its largest, new, colossal flagship store in the heart of Hyderabad at Banjara Hills, designed to offer a true sensorial experience by the brand. Spread across 2,700 sqft — an eclectic mix of inspirational elements, borrowed from the artistic glory of the brand, span the glorious two floors. The ground floor houses the womenswear apparel & jewelry, while the first floor focuses on menswear & home decor.
Another highlight is the exclusive introduction of carpets & art designed by Shivan and Narresh along with foliage in eclectic ornaments that have been peppered along the showroom. The architecture is awash in monochromatic tones with glistening accents of gold and rose gold — a brand signature for its retail space, featuring modern manifestations of antiquity. CE speaks to Shivan Bhatiya, Head Designer & Narresh Kukreja, Creative Director, SHIVAN & NARRESH, about their Hyderabad debut, new collection, journey and more.
What brings you to Hyderabad now?
Hyderabad for us is about abundance and that’s what has made us open one of our largest stores in the country yet in this city. They know how to make life happen and live every moment with a true work hard, play harder zest! This is what we intended to do with our store as well — to make it an absolute riot for everyone to enjoy the store, with its design, architecture & merchandise. The consumers in Hyderabad are bold in their sensibilities — willing to explore new styles, irrespective of the cliché market trends and experiment with what actually looks good on them. The city is nestled with authentic heritage, where we observe an unquenched demand for luxury as well as homegrown products.
Tell us about your store in Hyderabad. What makes it different from other stores?
The Hyderabad store has an evolved retail language, very different from our other flagships in the country. One that amalgamates art with interiors in a dramatic manner and scale. Along with that this is our only flagship that houses a comprehensive home decor section by the brand housing various categories of the SHIVAN & NARRESH home lifestyle like wallpapers, rugs, carpets, towels, candles, tableware, trays and more.
What sort of collection can we see at the store?
For our Hyderabad connoisseurs, there is an eclectic mix of artistic elements relaying on our personal travel stories and design inspiration. The ground floor houses womenswear apparel in ready-to-wear separates as well as a dedicated couture section along with our exquisite fashion jewelry.
Along with a new store is there a new collection launch?
Yes! The store houses our latest collection — Légérmash. Inspired by the pop culture of the 90’s, it reinterprets the revival of one of our signature archival prints: Leger Leisure that has been deconstructed and rearranged in the traditional form of collage artwork. Légérmash is our ode to the playful process of design at the time when technology was obsolete. Along with ski, the collection comprises a versatile range of ready-to-wear separates for swim & resort and also celebration-wear that lends a burst of vibrant colour and fresh energy to your everyday wardrobe.
You have been in the fashion industry for a long time. Tell us about your journey. Any challenges faced?
Even though we started the brand in 2010, our design journey originally dates back to 2003 — to the corridors and classrooms of NIFT New Delhi where our collective love for art, fashion and travel eventually led us to launch India’s first luxury swimwear brand.
Both Shivan and I wanted to travel all our lives so we wanted to pick a category of clothing that not only makes us travel but also inspires people to travel who we design for. It helped that swimwear as a category was missing from the Indian market and hence, through our creative designs, we ended up offering global style solutions to the growing demand for the lifestyle of holidays in India.Our journey has definitely been challenging yet fulfilling. When we returned to India, the immediate challenge was finding skilled labour for this segment.
None of the pattern-makers or tailors had any knowledge about swimwear. So at a base level, we had to fill in the gaps with new-age techniques, fabrics and the right machinery to be able to make swimsuits in India. Next was retail, in a country where fashion only meant wedding clothes. How do you reach an end consumer through multi-designer stores where you would hang a few swimsuits between lehengas and sarees and expect women to shop an intimate category of clothing for herself? So we started doing personalised retail educational pop-ups across the country to educate our customers one on one about this category.
In a country that is so occasion-driven, these women felt more comfortable and confident in layers of clothing, making us realise the issue wasn’t about fashion, but self-love and body confidence. Owing to this inclusivity, our brand has been able to smoothly transition from swimwear to now being a holistic holiday lifestyle brand consisting of — swim, resort, cruise, safari and even, ski.
Over time you have dressed the best of the best. Is there anyone special you are yet to dress?
For us, as creators, our journey has been about dressing as many diverse bodies and personalities as possible. It’s in this championing do we truly see the purpose of imparting self-love and body confidence in this world. From Beyoncé, Kim K to Dita Von Teese to even Oprah, it’s exciting to see how many more wardrobes the brand cater to as we enjoy creating for women who celebrate their body.