What made designers David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore finally show at a recent fashion week?

David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore do not come across as the cliched ‘designers’ — the kind who party non-stop, swim in wine every other night, never sleep before dawn and design clothes that no one can really wear. Though their designs are wearable, they are not regular — please don’t expect filmi lehengas and cholis. But after keeping a low profile for 18 years, they did their first fashion show at a fashion week recently.

So what prompted them to do a show now? “We discovered that markets are changing and participating and showcasing a strong collection will only make the buyers and retailers aware of our work and product. But that doesn’t mean we will do every show, we’ll only do a show when we have a collection that needs to be showcased.”

Talking about many designers doing film projects, they explain, “Bollywood films and our asthetics are different. We cannot do feathers and sequin work. It’s not us. But in future if something that is appropriate to our style comes to us we will do it. We believe in never say never.”

Their collection for autumn winter is an interpretation of traditional clothing to create a fashion statement for an urban Indian woman. “In our autumn/winter collection, we have used industrial things like nickel studs, metal on a very feminine garment, the sari. As we feel the sari is as much at par with international fashion garments because of its versatility.  It can be worn in various styles like with a belt or like a skirt and many other ways.”

Finally talking about couture in India, “Indian couture is more relevant than Paris because in India brides and grooms get their clothes from designers which, of course, are made to measure, unlike Paris where the real sense of couture is dying. They use it like a marketing act but here we actually totally follow couture.”