Shweta Bachchan Nanda, daughter of megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has made her designing debut with MxS in association with designer Monisha Jaising, says she has always enjoyed fashion. Her maiden line collection resonates a sense of cheeky, preppy and playful as well as something whimsical and glamorous.
Having similar tastes on basic aesthetics helped Shweta and Monisha.
"We both like a certain image, and when you have that kind of synchrocity, it is half the battle won. I like that Monisha is very easy, her clothes are never trying too hard," Shweta told IANS in an e-mail interview.
"With MxS, both of us sit together to brainstorm and come up with new design ideas. I don't have Monisha's technical expertise, so she brings that in on certain things -- like what a certain cut can or can't be achieved. But otherwise, when you collaborate on a design, it's 50-50."
Monisha was equally excited about the collaboration.
"I have known Shweta for a very long time. In fact when she was a young girl, there was a white shirt that I made for her and she looked exquisite in that. Since that I have always been following her style. I am very happy to be co-designing a collection with her.
"Shweta is very creative and filled with amazing ideas," said the designer, who finds their synergy "flawless".
On her part, Shweta, the elder of Big B's two children, says she always enjoyed fashion, buying and owning clothes.
"It's only when we did this fun thing for a 50th birthday of a close friend, I realised it would be a big fun to do something like this. I am really glad... It has been such an education working with Monisha," she said.
For MxS, both Shweta and Monisha believe in giving consumers comfort wear.
"I think in both our day-to-day personal lives, we end up wearing the same thing to work -- tracks or sweatpants and t-shirts -- a lot of times. We are two women who value comfort and that's transferred on to what we are wearing.
"It's very wearable and comfortable. We won't have itchy fabrics that you won't be able to be yourself in," said Shweta, who also gifted her father one of her self-designed hoodie.
She says her family has been extremely supportive and excited.
"It would be impossible to have done this without each of them; my parents, brother, sister-in-law, Nikhil (husband), Navya (daughter), Agastya (son), my sister-in-law Natasha and my mother-in-law. They gave me the encouragement and support," she said.
Monisha said the collection is not street wear.
"It's luxury pret, which is inspired by street style, resort and sportswear. We felt that there was a gap in the market for this category. If someone wanted to wear something special, there was no specific place they could go to, to pick up something instantly.
"They would always have to choose between the high street or super luxurious brands. We wanted to give the customer something special for that event, a place to shop where they could shop without breaking the bank and still look like a million bucks," said the designer.
Added Shweta: "Our first collection resonates a sense of cheeky, preppy and playful as well as something whimsical and glamorous. We wanted to design a fun and happy collection.
"When you get up in the morning you want to be excited about getting dressed and taking on the day-part of our job as creators and curators is to give people a bit of a break from reality."
There are sequin rainbow striped track-pants, statement luxe sweatshirts with the word 'Airplane Mode' scrawled across the front in embroidery, and a black leather skirt with slogans all over it in graffiti art. There are also casual items like an evil eye tee, hand pleated metallic skirt, a crochet tea length dress.
Monisha said they want to present the Indian woman with options. So, they have created 52 styles which can be worn by people across 15-55 years of age.
"We have shirts a 15-year-old can wear as a shirt dress at the same time it can be worn by a woman who's 55 with a pair of formal black trousers.
"The point is to encourage clients to use their own styling techniques. When they look at it, they say ‘wow' and start thinking how you can style it, said the designer.
The line will be retailed at the Monisha Jaising stores in Mumbai and Delhi with price points ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 70,000.
