ELLE Exclusive: Shantnu & Nikhil Bring 'Metropolis' To The Runway At ICW 2025 In Association With FDCI

Shantnu & Nikhil return to Hyundai India Couture Week 2025 with Metropolis—a collection that reimagines masculinity through structure, soul, and just the right amount of rebellion. Known for their signature blend of military rigour and draped romance, the designer duo has always walked the line between heritage and edge. This season, they take things a step further. Set in an imagined city where nostalgia brushes up against the future, Metropolis builds a new code for menswear—sharp, sculpted, and quietly powerful. It's couture for the man who leads with presence, not noise.

The designers talked with ELLE to give a sneak peek into their collection.

ELLE: Having dabbled into both couture and pret, what according to you makes couture relevant in this day and age?

Shantnu & Nikhil (S&N):Couture today is less about excess and more about intent. In a world driven by fast fashion and trends, it restores value to individuality. It’s where craft meets emotion, and silhouettes become storytelling. For us, couture isn’t just about occasion, it’s about identity. That said, we see value in both realms. Our Prestige-Pret label, S&N by Shantnu Nikhil, was created for moments that matter, for individuals who effortlessly own the spotlight in the everyday. But couture is where it all begins. It remains the soul of Maison Shantnu Nikhil, a space where ideas are born, pushed, and elevated. It’s where we continue unshackling traditionalism, the very heart of our design ethos.

ELLE: Give us a peek into the name and the inspiration of your collection.

(S&N): Metropolis, our Fall/Winter 2025 collection, dismantles predictability and writes a new code; not just in how men dress, but how they declare who they are. The inspiration stems from the friction between structure and emotion, order and expression. It’s a cityscape where military rigour collides with poetic drapery, where nostalgia isn’t worn, it’s provoked.
Drawing from military archives, desert culture, and the cinematic grandeur of India’s princely past, Metropolis is structured to subvert. Every look carries rebellion in its bones—a kind of radical restraint. At the heart of Metropolis is the Shantnu & Nikhil man; sovereign in stance, seductive in silence. He doesn’t wear nostalgia, he wears command. Metropolis gives voice to a new kind of royalty: one that isn’t inherited, but earned. It’s for men who lead with presence, and believe power can be poetic.

ELLE: What are the silhouettes, colour palettes and embellishments utilised?

(S&N): The collection moves between discipline and drama. Silhouettes are sharply defined: overcoat sherwanis, cropped bandhgalas, fluid draped kurtas, and architectural layers that signal precision with purpose. Military codes remain central but are offset by unexpected softness, ruffled accents, pearl punctuations, and asymmetrical details that disrupt form with emotion and heighten his presence.
Every look carries rebellion in its bones, a kind of radical restraint. The palette spans noir and pearl to sand gold, and washed vintage pastels, with chrome flourishes that
echo the quiet edge of an imagined cityscape. Embellishments are textural, never overpowering; embellished pinstripes, tonal appliqué, jewelled motifs, and sculptural accessories that feel almost relic-like. Embroideries nod to insignias of pride, layered, fragmented, and reimagined. Metropolis introduces a new kind of royalty. This is the New Code of Menswear.

ELLE: What are you most excited about couture in India ?

(S&N): We’re at an inflection point where couture is no longer bound by ceremonial conventions. Indian couture is beginning to embrace individuality, experimentation, and emotion, especially in menswear. The future is fluid. There’s a new guard of men ready to wear rebellion on their sleeves, and couture is finally speaking their sartorial language.

ELLE: Who would the ultimate muse (real or fictional) be for this collection ?

(S&N): The muse that came to mind while shaping this collection was Waris Ahluwalia. A global fashion icon who redefines elegance with restraint. His style is rooted in heritage, yet firmly modern, never loud, always intentional. He carries tradition without being confined by it, much like the Metropolis Man- he embodies the code.

With very few designers who’ve cracked the menswear couture, we are definitely excited to see what magic Shantnu & Nikhil will create with this collection! 

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