Tailor-made for each other

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Designer couples Pankaj and NidhI

They are not just their better-halves, they are their biggest support in life. They may be each other’s worst critics, but they are the best lovers at the same time. These designer couples find working in collaboration extremely comforting as they complement each other well.
Designer duo Alpana and Neeraj of Azara can’t stay apart for a minute. It’s been 15 years since they have been sharing ideas and life. Their work styles complement each other and they find solutions to their problems together. The idea for their SS-13 collection came from a documentary they had seen together. “We immediately knew what our theme was going to be. We knew we could create something magical with it. So I took care of the illustrative aspect while the geometric things are Neeraj’s baby. I infuse the feminine feel while he brings the masculine touch to our designs. So disagreements are the last thing we face,” explains Alpana.
Their SS collection boasts of intricate gold lattice effect and loads of tilla work done in perfect harmony and it’s hard to pinpoint who did what, tells designer Pankaj Ahuja.
Pankaj and Nidhi were working with Rohit Bal before they started their label in 2006. Pankaj fell in love with Nidhi for her work and attitude towards life. They shared common design sensibilities, which brought them together. “While my mind veers towards teda-meda work, Nidhi brings organisation to the front. I am good with art work but her skills to make it real are amazing. We don’t have many disagreements and what we take home is more work and continuous discussions. However, the biggest drawback is though we are with each other 24X7, we are hardly romantically together.”
Working as a dynamic team, Ankur and Priyanka Modi have propelled their label am:pm through their skills and effortless coordination. The simple palette of black and white for their SS collection signifies the different shades of life.
Priyanka says, “We both decided that black is the only colour that can do justice to our ideas. Our ideas have always been in sync, that is why our garments don’t show two different minds at work.”
Muzaffar Ali agrees that working together has huge payoffs. “By working together you can avert many mistakes. You arrive at practical solutions. You also have the power to deal with more adversities,” says Muzaffar to which Meera adds, “In a creative field, when one creates a beautiful piece, the greatest pleasure is in sharing the process of creating it. It is almost like going on an adventure together.”
Although Anjalee Kapoor handles the creative aspect and her husband Arjun the business part, they were aware of the challenges they were going to face. Anjalee says, “If two people are living and working together, clashes are bound to happen. Then the best way is to disconnect from work the minute you come home and leave the business problems to be solved the next day.”