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Quiet conquerors
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Minimalist designers Abraham and Thakore tailor their line for the global fashionista, writes HEMANGINI GUPTA
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LOW PROFILE Abraham: `We don't use big models, just regular people; and we build our brand through word of mouth. We have small advertising, which retains the same style throughout' Photo: Murali Kumar K.
They're hardly the kind of label that comes screaming at you from mega billboards featuring supermodels. Designers Abraham and Thakore (A and T) and their eponymous label are far too discreet to be so blatantly visible. Instead, their stores, like their style statement, are minimalist and as David Abraham will agree, "nothing overtly Indian here, but then nothing overtly Western either."
Market overseas
A and T's mix of delicate Indian handicraft with Western styles in loungewear and clothing have helped them establish a market rapidly in the West, where two-thirds of their sales are conducted. They were first established in London with their accessories and loungewear. This early exposure to the West has left them comfortable with the new trend of global clothing, as accessible to Indian markets as to the rest of the world.
"We use traditional techniques but we contemporise them," says David Abraham. "I had a lot of influence to Indian handicrafts through the National Institute of Design where I studied." The label has used handloom from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, block-printing and even traditional Lucknowi chikan work on woollen shawls for winter collections.
Indian handicrafts can only survive by getting into a niche market, Abraham declares. "You can't keep something alive artificially. Artistes used to supply within their communities but now that patronage has gone and people in the cities are looking for cheap stuff, fashion designers are doing a great service by providing artistes work and popularising their designs," says Abraham.
Although the design duo's own collections are subtle and not lavish in the embellishments so liberally included by other design labels selling India to the West, local handicrafts often provide A and T their inspiration. The upcoming autumn-winter collection, for instance, "is inspired by kalamkari images," says Abraham. "The images inspired trends and techniques but the final products are very stylised and sometimes so removed that the connection is hard to link."
A and T also does furnishings which remain faithful to the influences and palettes of the main collection. The final products are inherently global: not really briskly Western prêt but not lavish Indian couture either and this inclusive identity poses no problems for the designers. "Well, we read, write and think in English," says Abraham. "The culture you live in comes through subconsciously. We use Indian motifs all the time but it becomes very mannered to over-articulate this. The clothes are Indian though; I live in Delhi and I match colours in Delhi light."
FDI impact
With foreign direct investment likely to increase in the retail sector and already big brands such as Louis Vuitton and Versace marking their territory, Abraham sees local designers "going small and creative, focussing on handicrafts and controlling their environment."
Most A and T stores are uncluttered and fuss-free; just like the one we sit in. "We don't use big models, just regular people — and we build our brand through word of mouth. We have small advertising, which retains the same style throughout. We are three partners; we are all hands-on and fiddle with everything."
Keeping their work niche yet not couture, Abraham and Thakore have established themselves in the West and are now all set to explore East Asia. In Bangalore they retail at Embassy Classic on Vittal Mallya Road.
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Metro Plus
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