Nachiket Barve

Nachiket Barve is a notable Indian fashion designer based out of Mumbai, India. He launched his eponymous label at the Gen Next show at Lakme Fashion Week.^[1] He was awarded ‘Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the year’ award by the British Council and Elle in 2010.^[2][3]

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Nachiket hails from a family of doctors. He graduated from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and economics with a bachelor’s degree in Commerce and went on to study Apparel and accessory design from the prestigious National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad.^[4] He was awarded a scholarship by the French government to study at Ecole Nationale Superieur des Arts Decoratifs (ENSAD). At ENSAD, he worked with the artisans of Haute Couture Ateliers developing techniques involving crafts of couture such as handmade flower making, pleating, and working with feathers, exotic leather and accessories. ^[5] He finished his final project with Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla and has interned with Celine (a part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy [LVMH] Luxury Conglomerate) and textile designer Neeru Kumar. ^[6]

Nachiket launched his label at Lakme Fashion Week.^[7] Magazines like Vogue, Grazia, Elle, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar and Femina have featured his designs. His work has been appreciated by the likes of Suzy Menkes, of the International Herald Tribune and Carine Roitfeld, former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris.^[8][9] His work has been featured in the book ‘Contemporary Indian design’ published in Italy by Damiani^[10]

He was invited to show at Buenos Aires Fashion week (BAAM) in Argentina and Coterie in New York.^[11][12]

In 2010, Nachiket won the prestigious ‘Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the year’ award by the British Council and Elle and he represented India in London.^[5][13]

In 2011, he was invited to talk at the Entrepreneurs Conference by the Italian Government to represent young and emerging designers from the Indian Fashion Industry.^[14]

In 2012, the British Council invited him to showcase his collection at “Alchemy” in London. He has also shown as a part of the Blender’s Pride Tour.^{[15][16][17][18]}

In 2011, Nachiket designed costumes for jewelry brand Tanishq’s Diwali television commercial starring Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.^[4][19]

In 2012, he collaborated with pastry chef and owner of Le 15 Patisserie in Mumbai, Pooja Dhingra to produce a special edition range of macaroons and packaging inspired by his Caravan collection that he presented at Wills India Lifestyle Fashion Week.^[20][21] The label is also a part of Caravan 2014, an initiative to showcase and retail a curated collection of the best designer brands in India at Harvey Nichols Riyadh.^[22][23]

The label currently retails in designer stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Calcutta in India. It retails internationally in USA, Singapore and Nigeria. The label also retails online at Pernia’s pop up shop and U.S site Rent the Runway. Nachiket makes ‘Bespoke clothes’ and ‘Indianwear’ from his studio in Mumbai.^[24][25][26]

His designs have been sported by personalities like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Freida Pinto, Sonam Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Kalki Koechlin, Karisma Kapoor, Shobhaa De, Neha Dhupia, Genelia D’souza and Sophie Choudhary to name a few.^{[4][27][28][29]}

Having traveled extensively and lived in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Paris and Auckland, his designs are culturally diverse. A wide range of eclectic influences from travel, science, nature and functionality inspires his collections. His designs have been described as fresh, innovative and minimalistic with a strong in-depth portrayal of his inspiration. His upcoming A/W 2014 collection has been well received and is inspired from traditional Maori culture.^[30][31][32]

He is known for experimenting with fabrics, use of joyous colors and intricately detailed texture rich surface ornamentation. Nachiket's philosophy is to challenge pre-existing norms of making fashion restrictive and to democratize it by making it relevant to women across barriers of race, age, size and body type.^{[33][34][6][35][36][37]}

References