Gabriella Demetriades and Nikhil Thampi get chatty over Bollywood and style

Shes sizzled on lists featuring the worlds hottest women So when South African modeldesigner Gabriella Demetriades walks into The Daily its easy to figure why Theres no discernable makeup on her face her slip dress is perfect to take her from day to evening Its impossible to ignore Nikhil Thampi too with his tall build and sunglasses in place You always wear amazing boots he tells Demetriades The two designers known for their sexy western creations slip into comfortable chatterFashion designers Gabriella Demetriades left and Nikhil Thampi at The Daily Bar amp Kitchen in Bandra PicsSneha KharabeSabhnani What made you enter menswearDemetriades Because no ones doing it I am doing more of a casual daywear line that is unisex mdash jeans tees and jacketsThampi Menswear has evolved from what it was five years ago Men are more experimental I remember I had done cowl kurtas in my GenNext show it wasnt big back then Every top designer today is doing drapes for menswear I thought lets revisit it Although it is mostly Indian nobody is doing predominantly western clothes We thought of doing a small collection of eight looks to check the market We have been flooded with offers I never believed in celebrity showstoppers till today Hrithik Roshan walked for his showDemetriades Its amazing when they wear them as it goes viral But then it depends on the celebrity too As a foreigner it was interesting to see thatThampi We both owe a lot to celebrities my career graph accelerated because of it But its important only if it translates into sales A Deepika Padukone wearing an outfit is not as aspirational as Sonakshi Sinha or Kareena Kapoor wearing it as they are fullbodied Fashion weeks should focus only on design not showstoppersSabhnani Speaking of model sizing how did you shift from modeling to designingDemetriades My family business involves textiles and haberdashery My grandmother started it 50 years ago My mother owns a small knitwear label in South Africa The production capability there isnt amazing and we always thought of moving to India We first came to India to look at production possibilitiesThampi Production is a nightmare in Mumbai It costs half in Delhi or Kolkata I cry every day due to bills and production issuesSabhnani We have a long way to go rightDemetriades Its very young The Indian sensibility is conservative so you have to tone it down But its a growing economy and there are risktakers tooThampi To survive you have to be an allrounder especially a PR maestroDemetriades Exactly Whats in the public eye becomes the identity of the brand Theres a big gap between lounge and highend Indian wear mdash I cant buy a fourlakh gown for every occasion There are no sexyfun labels The price point between 100 to 700 is massive in the West and you can buy something beautifulThe food arrives Quinoa Salad and Champagne Mushroom Fricassee for Demetriades Pollo Funghi e Jalapeno Drunken Prawns and Banana Peanut Butter smoothie for ThampiDemetriades This looks good Avocuddle sounds cute we ordered a blueberry avocado shake called AvocuddleThampi Food is my happy space I eat everything I can eat a human beingDemetriades Thats mean I gave up meat three months ago But my family is Greek so everything has lamb They asked me What are you going to eat When I watched the film Okja I was in tears And I was hosting people for dinner that day When a pork dish was served I thought Oh god I cant do it Since then I havent had red meat or chickenSabhnani So do you eat before showsThampi I cant eat anything but I compensate after the showDemetriades French fries When I am stressed I eat When I am super happy I dont When I was in South Africa I was 10 kilos lighter Its very hardcore there When I came to India it was the opposite People liked that I was curvyThampi Shes so thin Its a profession you need to maintain yourself But none of us would want to project our clothes on an extremely thin modelSabhnani What do you like and hate about the industryThampi Nepotism You pick up any magazine and youll spot the same five people all over again The same people are given awards every time Move onDemetriades Fashion and celebrities are a single entity in India I dont think that just because you are a celebrity Bollywood or cricket you are fashionable Also there is hierarchy and power play in the industry which is scary for newcomers and outsiders or foreigners like me