Bollywood

‘I haven’t been more comfortable in my skin before’: Shweta Bachchan Nanda on her fashion foray and more

I love normcore and athleisure because they are fantastic. It’s something everybody can wear, says Shweta

Reported By:| Edited By: Manish D Mishra |Source: DNA |Updated: Sep 04, 2018, 06:05 AM IST

Shweta Bachchan Nanda

Laidback-yet-luxe, comfort-driven-yet-chic — that’s been style savant Shweta Bachchan Nanda’s sartorial approach. Over the years, she has shown an amazing ability to oscillate between a pared-down and minimal athleisure look for her flight time to a high-octane metallic look for an evening of glamour. While she’s always dressed to suit the occasion, she isn’t scared to take style risks, too. So, it’s not surprising to see ease and wearability translating into her new luxury prêt label MXS in collaboration with designer Monisha Jaising.

The collection, incorporating close to 52 pieces, exemplifies a sense of ease, a mix and match appeal and versatility. The duo wants their customer to be the stylist, play dress up and create her own look. The offering is a cornucopia of sporty glam separates, which can be paired with each other depending on one’s individual taste. Hence, a sequinned blazer can be teamed with a pleated skirt and a sweatshirt can be thrown on a pair of party pants and a shine-on jumper can be styled with track pants. I meet the tall and statuesque Shweta at Monisha’s Pali Hill store and she’s dressed in a pair of sweatpants, a comfy tee and trainers. Looking at her easy breezy style, it’s not hard to comprehend how the line marries her grown-up approach to fashion with Monisha’s timeless glam slam touch. Superimpose this synthesis with the all-pervading street cred and you’ve got a winner. Over to the style maven...

What does style mean to you?

For me, comfort is key. Style is something I actually don’t give much thought to, it’s just the way you put stuff together. It should appeal to your body type and you should be able to carry it off. There are a lot of things on the racks and I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s gorgeous, but I can’t wear that’. I think, in order to be stylish, you have to know yourself and you have to be comfortable in your own skin. For me personally, at 44, I haven’t been more comfortable in my skin than I’m today.

How do you interpret your personal style?

What you’re seeing right now — T-shirt and track pants. It’s something I can be comfortable in and during the evenings, I like to wear something elegant. Sometimes when I’m in a fun mood, I want to don something crazy. I love bling a lot (smiles).

What does luxury mean to you?

If I had to choose something between that’s handmade, handcrafted and an experience, I’d choose an experience. It’s the whole experience of when you pick up an item to how it makes you feel when you wear it only in the fashion space. Of course, there are other definitions of luxury. It’s something unique to you, which you can interpret the way you like. It should be versatile.

What’s your take on street influence on luxe fashion?

I love it. It means I can come to work in trackpants, I can wear trainers with a long skirt and that’s fine. So, you don’t have to be uncomfortable and squeeze yourself into stilettos anymore. You can wear Doc Martens with a short dress. I want more of it (smiles). Both Monisha and I are huge fans of street fashion. Of course, it’s something we feel isn’t around in India. There is a lot of high-end luxury stuff around and there’s low-end stuff, but there’s nothing in between. We wanted to cater to it, so it’s a little bit above high street. Since both of our aesthetics is about street style and when we are looking at stuff online, we look at streetwear, so that’s a natural evolution. That’s the way it goes.

How was the process of shooting the label’s campaign?

We sat down and had many discussions. It’s easy because like I said, today I’m comfortable in my skin and I know what I can carry off. I also know what my daughter can carry off. Even though she wasn’t here when we were thinking of it, I knew what I wanted her to wear and how I wanted her to wear it. Also, with this brand, if you sport one of our items, you don’t have to be fussy in terms of accessorising it. Our outfits speak for themselves. That’s what we’ve done in the shoot. We have not used any jewellery and we haven’t gone overboard with shoes or anything else. We’ve tried to keep it simple and showcased our clothes. I knew what would suit Navya and her body type. And I knew exactly how I wanted it to look and we both came up with clothes we’d like to showcase. Rohan Shrestha shot it for us. He’s a master at this kind of photography and he made us comfortable.

Shweta Bachchan Nanda with daughter Navya Naveli

Half the time we didn’t even know we were being shot. We were talking and fixing our hair, he was shooting and he said, ‘I’ve got my shot’ and I think that translated very well. It’s relatable because we are not models and don’t aspire to be one. We come in all shapes and sizes. I’d like women my age to feel comfortable wearing what a 21-year-old would pick as well. I hope that came across well in the campaign. It is a bonafide label and we plan to have four to five collections a year. This one has close to 52 pieces and we are already working hard on our next one. We hope it’s well received. We have our fingers crossed.

Who are the style icons you admire?

There are a lot of lovely ladies in Mumbai itself who get it right all the time. Some of my top favourites are Tanya Dubash, Haseena Jethmalani and Priya Aswani. They are always so chicly turned out and never ever wrong. Whatever they buy, they make it work and accessorise it beautifully. They never overdo or underdo it. I love that. From a young age, I have seen my mother and through her, I met Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. During my summers, I would work in their factory and I have learnt so much about fashion from them. They’ve been training my eye while I was with them. This develops your acumen and you are what you learn.

Most people today love fashion and what’s wonderful is that it’s so accessible now. You can shop online. It’s wonderful. What I feel excited about is there’s finally an Indian designer catering to street fashion. You can step out of your house, come into our store and pick a piece of clothing, wear it to a party, maybe wear it to office or a beach. And finally, someone in India is doing it. Normally you run to ZARA or H&M. Today, hopefully, you can come to us (smiles).

Which city, according to you, is the fashion capital of the world and why?

Paris. I feel the most stylish people are Parisians. They wear the simplest things like a pair of blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a jacket and make it look so stylish.

Is there a Parisian undercurrent in the line?

The label is an amalgamation of all our exposure and travels. When you’re wearing a graffiti pencil leather skirt with a camisole, it has a French feel to it. Both of us have drawn from our travels.

Who are your favourite designers?

In India, it’s Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. Abroad, they keep changing — Alaia, vintage YSL. I love Gucci because they keep reinventing themselves. I loved them when they were with Tom Ford and I love them now. Prada used to be amazing.

Which era in fashion history appeals to you?

I am loving this time right now. I love normcore and athleisure because they are fantastic. It’s something everybody can wear. It’s not exclusive to a certain section of society.

How often do you shop?

I am a huge shopper. Sometimes it’s crazy shopping, like I’d buy something for a week online. Most of my shopping is online. Otherwise, I go for months without buying something. Online shopping has made it difficult not to shop.