Elle Exclusive: Rhea And Showik Chakraborty On Their First Fashion Store Meant To Dress Gen Z Energies

What’s better than one voice when it comes to sketching out an idea? Two! Just ask Rhea and Showik Chakraborty, who brought together their creative energies to see their first store opening in Bandra. It’s blending streetwear with playful individuality, much like the time they spent over bringing this to fruition as they share how it took endless cups of java and long hours into the night, peppered with arguments until 3 am and cheering each other on coming up with clarity.
In a chat, the siblings divulge the effort, mood, movement and mayhem and of course, the cohesive conversation that went into it all.

ELLE: You’re about to open your first-ever physical store of your homegrown streetwear brand. How did that come about? Is it a dream, long cherished?

Rhea Chakraborty (RC): Honestly, no. It wasn’t some childhood dream. It was born from a moment when life fell apart for both of us. Showik had a whole MBA trajectory laid out—he had offers, exams, plans. And I was on set one day and then suddenly, I wasn’t. Work stopped. Life stopped. The phones stopped ringing. That silence gave us time to think: If not this, then what? So no, it wasn’t the dream, but our fight back. It became our second act. We often joked when the brand started that if I didn't sell, we’ll go sell it on Linking Road. Now, here we are at Linking Road as our first store opens.  

Showik Chakraborty (SC): And more than a business, it was survival—emotional survival. It was a way of saying, ‘We’re still here. We still matter’. We didn’t want to wait for someone to give us an opportunity. We wanted to make one.

ELLE: Was the idea of creating a fashion brand always on the cards—or did it emerge from a specific moment or turning point in your lives?

RC: It wasn’t planned. It emerged from a raw place—when I felt most exposed and unsure. Clothes became my armour. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be in fashion. But there was a moment—post everything—when I couldn’t find the words to say how I felt. And then I wore a t-shirt that did it for me. That t-shirt became my voice. That was the turning point. My t-shirt spoke for me when I couldn’t.

SC: Same here. I couldn’t find pieces that felt like me—not just in terms of fit, but meaning. And I realised, maybe that’s because we hadn’t made them yet. We decided to create what we wished existed. We make what we would love to wear. And all of our teammates would love to wear. We wanted to wear what we couldn’t find in stores—clothes that meant something, not just looked cool.

ELLE: Do you think the time is ripe for a unisex brand in the Indian fashion landscape? 

RC: Yes, 100 percent. The new generation doesn’t dress by gender; they dress by vibe. Gen Z doesn’t ask “boys or girls?” They ask, “Is this me?” We’re not dressing genders anymore—we’re dressing energies. It’s about strength stitched into the fabric and about reclaiming your story.

SC: The idea of gendered clothing feels old now. You shouldn’t need to ask permission to wear something that feels like you. Our collections are about vibe, not labels. We want people to feel seen in our clothes. Unapologetic. Free.

ELLE: With pieces like ‘Un-Herd’ and ‘Indifferent’, the premise seems to be unique yet zany. Do share more.

RC: When we came up with ‘Un-Herd’ we wanted it to be personal. It’s about not blending in just to survive. If you’re going to be talked about, might as well be talked about for being part of the unherd herd. It’s about owning your individuality. You do you.
SC: With ‘Indifferent’ it cuts deep. That’s what we want people to wear: Power, peace, presence. It’s very empowering and we want our community to feel that.

We pull from everywhere—global streetwear, underground music, Delhi alleys, old Tupac interviews, even poetry. Street culture is the spine, but emotion is the heartbeat

 
ELLE: What influences your design language—street culture, global fashion, music, or personal experiences? Is it bold, minimalist?

RC: Our boards swing between bold neon prints and stripped-down neutrals. We love contrast. We love conflict. Some designs scream. Others whisper. All of them say something.
SC: Showik: It’s all of that. We pull from everywhere—global streetwear, underground music, Delhi alleys, old Tupac interviews, even poetry. But above all, it’s emotional. Street culture is the spine, but emotion is the heartbeat.

ELLE: What is the experience like, building a brand together as siblings? Was it fun? How do you handle creative disagreements or business decisions?

RC: It’s like running a relay with your best friend and your biggest pain. We’ve fought over fonts, fabrics, even product names. But it works because we bring opposite energies. He brings soul, I bring structure. We balance each other, even when we clash. But under all of it, there’s one shared belief—we owe this our everything.
SC: And we complement each other. I dream big, Rhea sharpens it. She builds structure, I bring soul. We may have different styles, but the same heartbeat: Start again. Begin again. Always.

ELLE: Did you sit together for long hours and ideate or decide over the designs? Please paint a picture of that process.

RC: Oh, so many nights. We’d sit on the floor with coffee cups, messy sketches, laptops open, Pinterest boards crashing. Sometimes we’d not speak for hours—just vibe. Other nights, we’d argue till 3 a.m. But somehow, the chaos always brought clarity. We also discuss what we feel what will resonate with people, we want the clothes to be a voice.
SC: The best ideas often came at 2 am, when nothing made sense. When logic switched off and intuition took over. And that’s when it clicked.

ELLE: There also must have been some early challenges you faced as young entrepreneurs entering the fashion space?

RC: Yes, many challenges. We had no clue about how to start a business let alone how to run one and we had to learn everything from scratch.
SC: Yes, honestly, everything was new. Fabric sourcing, vendor negotiation, packaging, logistics. Every day was a crash course in something. We had to learn to speak fashion and business at the same time—learning supply chains, delays, finances—with no handbook.

ELLE: How hands-on are you with the brand in the day-to-day creative and business decisions?

RC: Fully. We’re not just faces of the brand—we’re in the trenches. We approve every label, every campaign storyboard, every caption that goes out. If it says Chapter 2, we’ve touched it and steam ironed it (ourselves). From styling models to fixing every little detail - stylist production assistant we do it all. Sometimes I’m the spot dada also. Nothing leaves the studio without our eyes on it.
SC: I’m knee-deep in backend—production timelines, payment cycles, vendor calls. But I’m also checking fits, folding tees, fixing threads at shoots. This isn’t glamorous. It’s war. And we’re fighting with thread and soul. We don’t just co-own—we co-create.

ELLE: What can we expect from Chapter 2’s upcoming drops?

SC: We’re experimenting with upcycled fabrics, limited artist collabs, and drop formats. We’re also playing with textures, and trying to create a feeling, ‘what you feel is what we want to wear’. Our drops will be seasonal in soul, not just weather.
RC: Each capsule will be a feeling. A statement. Not just clothes you wear, but something you say with your body.

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