Backstroke from Nepal

Swimwear designers Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja are an ambitious duo. After winning recognition for their swimwear line,they now plan to get into resort and ski wear. Interestingly,they have set their sights on Nepali fabrics to produce the same. This comes close on the heels of their recent visit to Nepal where they were invited by the Indian embassy in Nepal and the Nepalese organisation Today’s Youth Asia (TYA) to contribute to Nepal India Youth Leadership collaborations. They were also awarded TYA’s Young Achiever’s Award by Kamala Roka,Nepal’s Minister of Youth and Sports.

“We checked out several textiles,to look at the possibilities of sourcing fabric from Nepal for future collections. We made it a point to check out fabrics such as hemp and pashmina. They have a lot of potential out there and we would love to tap into it,” says Narresh. This apart,he admits that the trip helped them break several stereotypes. “One would think that people in Nepal are conservative but that’s slowly changing now. The very fact that they welcomed two swimwear designers proves this. In fact,they wondered how we were making a headway as swimwear designers in India as they expected Indian consumers to be more orthodox than that.

In that sense,the trip doubled as a cultural exchange,” he points out.