Designer duo Shantanu & Nikhil's bridal couture line, to be showcased on the day four of the ongoing BMW India Bridal Fashion Week, is a living picture of their architectural journey to Jodhpur's famous Mehrangarh Fort.
Known for mixing Indian culture and modern western sensibilities, their collection "The Mahal have silhouettes backed by the architectural stories the fort tells.
"The collection is inspired by the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur. Every season we focus strongly on our travel that inspire us. The beauty of the fort is that it compels you to walk in not only because of the simplicity of its design but also for the accuracy with which it has been done.
"The beauty of all these places was that they were designed with impeccable mathematics, which we have used as the elements of our designs," Nikhil told PTI.
As per the designer, the colour palette and embroideries on their couture line are inspired by the hues of the fort and the intricate designs on the jharokhas.
The line also focuses on post wedding functions along with the cocktail evenings.
"In the colour palette, we have used existence of inhabitants of the palace. If you look at the Sheesh Mahal, it has greys and mirror and we have got our own rendition of it. If you look at Mehrangarh their is a tone of beige going into chocolate. We have not tempered the detailing at all," he said.
Unlike a collection inspired from Rajasthan, which is usually thought to be dominated by cliche colours and designs from the life of desert, Nikhil said their take on the land of forts is completely different.
"It is expected that anything that comes from Rajasthan has to be about colours. But for us how it was constructed matters. We have used only the architecture, which has nothing to do with the lifestyle or people wearing bandhini. This is our take of Rajasthan," he said.
