Kiss and dress up

After all, what clotheshorse doesn’t love a two-for-one? Meet four couples with different personalities but one thing in common—fashion is their business and pleasure

The fashion industry is an easy mark. Out here, it often seems that relationships are as frivolous and fleeting as a double air kiss. But the business of style is also a collaborative ambition, one built on intent and intimacy, signalling partnerships and sharing lifestyle and wardrobe. In a wink and nod to Valentine’s Day, we get them to decode love through sartorial solidarity.

Arpita Mehta, 37, and Kunal Rawal, 36///
Designers behind independent eponymous bridal brands

AM:  Kunal and I met 12 years ago; long before we became designers. We were fresh out of fashion school. Kunal had returned to Mumbai after studying at London College of Fashion, and I had graduated from SNDT. We dated on and off, until we got serious and married in August 2022.

I come from a middle-class background and budget was always a constraint. Fashion Street at Churchgate and Bandra’s Elco Market were my shopping hangouts. I would like to think that my personal style has evolved not just in terms of personal but financial choices too. What I wear is actually pretty clean and classic. Kunal is the risk-taker and way more stylish than me. He has built an enviable wardrobe of timeless pieces, especially the slim-fit jackets and shirts which I constantly borrow. He now says, ‘Stop taking my clothes!’ We went shopping to two different areas during our recent London trip and came back with clothes in similar styles, prints and colours. But it is inevitable—you take influences from each other. We don’t mind it; twinning with your partner is cute. It is our combined love for fashion that brought us together, and I say, couples who appreciate and enjoy fashion together, stay together.

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KR:  As people, we are different. I’d like to think that I am an emotional dresser; I choose my clothes according to what I am feeling that morning. I love black and grunge, and within those two aesthetics, I own some super-crazy pieces including jewellery which she borrows all the time. There’s a joke in the family, ‘[This is] Kunal bhaiya ki jewellery’. In fact, whenever we shop we pick up two of the same products like sunglasses, sneakers, jackets, oversized blazers. My biggest joy is clothes, and it can be a lot of fun when you find something you enjoy doing together. 

I have learned beauty tricks from her; how to do pick-me-up under-eye concealer and contouring. She also lets me borrow her sunglasses and stoles. Between us, I take an hour longer to get dressed. I am not as proper and planned as Arpita; 90 per cent of the time, she knows what she would wear while I stay undecided between five options.

David Abraham, 65, and Kevin Nigli, 55///
Partners in life and the brand, Abraham & Thakore

DV: I met Kevin 30 years ago when I had interviewed him while I worked at an American buying company. After I quit that job to launch the Abraham & Thakore brand, Kevin joined us. Our professional relationship evolved into a personal one later.

I don’t think he has had any influence on my style. I was wearing a lot of black before we met. I still am! I am a little more experimental and take fairly discreet risks. Kevin likes consistency and doesn’t approve of quick changes in trends. His constant grouse is when a particular style he likes gets discontinued by a brand he shops from. 

We don’t share clothes; we are different sizes. But Kevin is happy to lounge around the house in my old, discarded sweatpants. We tend to wear similar colours so our combined colour palette is harmonious. In fact it is Rakesh [Thakore, business partner] and I, much to our chagrin, who find each other dressed almost identically at times!

KN: My style is classic and boring. David is more adventurous and trend-led. He spends more on clothes. He also has a fetish for shoes; a la Imelda Marcos. Sadly, our shoe sizes are very different. 

David has influenced my personal style, to an extent. I used to wear a lot more colour and was quite unstylish. Now, it’s mostly a neutral palette. We have different dressing rooms but on occasion when we end up wearing matching colours, he goes back and changes.

Amrita Khanna, 41, and Gursi Singh, 38///
Designer duo behind contemporary label, Lovebirds

AK: We met in 2013 at my vintage store in Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi. We knew we had to be together right then. We decided to collaborate on a small collection to sell at our store, and that eventually turned into a long-term partnership. We got married in 2015.

My personal style harks back to my initial exposure to fashion. I grew up in Nagaland where my parents would take me to Bhutia market and I’d find a huge range of vintage clothing and objects from the ’70’s and ’80s. Over the years, our tastes in clothes have become seemingly identical, probably because we believe in similar design ideas of minimalism, proportions and functionality. This has also seeped into our brand’s visual language.

Gursi takes longer to get dressed; I’m more decisive. I am always going through his closet, looking for an oversized white shirt. He borrows my sweaters.
  
GS: Before I met Amrita, I looked at fashion as pop culture and dressing as one of the many facets of self-expression. I switched from wearing sandals to sneakers; it is a change for me. I’d say it is because of a refined understanding of fashion and trends that unfolded after I met Amrita.

We share a similar outlook towards dressing; we believe in starting with a single element and then building on the look. A common piece of clothing you will find in our wardrobes is an oversized white shirt. We will style it differently. Amrita’s style will often reflect her initial inspirations from across the globe, almost always accented by well-tailored trousers. My sports inflected everyday look is an extension of an active lifestyle. 

Because we believe in minimalist basics, we end up in coordinated pieces but we are not self-conscious about looking matchy-matchy.

Falguni and Shane Peacock///
Designer couple behind the eponymous bridal couture brand

FP: A common friend introduced us in 1999-2000. Back then, I used to paint and worked as a commercial artist. Shane was looking for an artist to work on his hand-painted collection. I come from a close-knit family. Close to 15 of my family members visited Shane to figure out his intentions. It was quite a culture shock for him. We got married in 2001.

My style was very different before I met Shane. I gravitated towards Indian wear staples like kurtas and salwars, and I was a big fan of Chambor plum lipstick and winged eyeliners. Bollywood, more specifically Madhuri Dixit in Dil To Pagal Hai, was my style influence. I remember this one time when Shane and I were on a date, and he asked: ‘Do you want to try wearing jeans?’ From then, my personal style has evolved into something more refined, glam and confident; Shane helped me find my style niche. I now don’t shop without seeking his opinion.

SP: I like classic Western styles with lots of black and white. Falguni’s size is a bit small to allow us to share clothes, but we often twin in matching dark colours or denim. And she borrows my bomber jackets. 

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