Life Online Presents : Meet The Designer - Shivan And Narresh 

Swim Week Colombo is set to take place on the 24th and 25th of June at the Colombo Port and is a host to a number of designers, both local and international. Having collaborated with reputed swimwear manufacturer, Linea Aqua, Swim Week Colombo will present 14 Sri Lankan and international designers on the runway. 

Partnering up with Swim Week Colombo, Life Online puts the spotlight on Shivan and Narresh. 

Shivan and Narresh is India’s first luxury swimwear brand that was launched in Cannes in 2006. They became the first mainstream beachwear designers doing 100% handcrafted stitch-free surfaced beachwear along with ready to wear swimwear made all in 100% Italian fabrics and complementing resort wear. They are the first Indian brand to showcase at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim 2012 in Miami and also to participate in the Swimwear Association of Florida’s Swim Show 2012. 

How different is your theme this year? 

The collection is an intelligent interpretation of Diego Rivera’s art, in terms of color, form and prints and works beautifully for a discerning holiday, honeymoon and destination wedding wardrobe with its product offerings. The intrepid collection highlights Rivera’s early foray into cubism, a less known but profoundly important aspect of the artist’s development, in which his interest in themes of nationalism and politics first emerges. The look is a paean to an eclectic yet statuesque style that blends seamlessly for holidays to honeymoons while sparking desire through gallant prints and dexterous cutouts. Each motif boasts of a different order of beads and gems, but when arrayed next to each other, they create a graphic and vivid pattern. The collection meditates on Rivera’s signature large scale blocks in calming hues and textures to translate an effortless summer style for the SHIVAN & NARRESH Woman as she sets aboard her enthralling summer sojourns. 

Having been in the swimwear industry since 2006, where do you find the inspiration and the motivation to come up with fresh collections each season? 

We both are extremely passionate about art and it continues to inspire us to use it as a starting point of each collection. Swimwear was the only category that allowed us to amalgamate art and fashion. It’s most exciting to interpret a canvas in an illustration and watch it come alive and making its way from the runway into people’s wardrobes. It’s this process of translating art into fashion that keeps our adrenaline gushing and feet moving. 

India tends to have a conservative view when it comes to fashion, especially swimwear – does that affect how you design your collection? 

Indian women probably have the most suited body-type for swimwear - it is curved at all the right places and beautifully accentuates the beauty of a swimsuit, whether it is a one piece maillot, a two-piece bikini or a daring trikini! 

Back in 2010, when we first started our brand, the industry was at almost a non-existent stage wherein women didn't have the required knowledge or access to brands for this category, unless they travelled abroad. Coming to 2016, Indian women have now become aware of their unique body-type and its nuances while shopping for swimwear and a lot more confident in embracing this category. The demand has been spurred majorly by the growing population of Indians holidaying and honeymooning in beach or resort destinations and their awareness level has gone higher to make the right choices for dressing while travelling. Also, the growing number of destination weddings has also seen a rise in the demand for this category. 

Having featured in runways in Miami, what do you think about Sri Lanka’s potential to become the swimwear destination in Asia? 

Sri Lanka has a great potential in becoming a melting pot of swimwear industry for south-east Asia and with its gorgeous beaches, it only strengthens further an influx of tourism which can consume the swimwear market of the country. 

By Panchali Illankoon