There are designers who dress a moment, and then there are those who build a vocabulary. Over twenty-five years in Indian couture, Shantnu & Nikhil have done the latter — sharply tailored silhouettes that merge skilled drapery, military nuances, and an unapologetic androgynous ethos, carving out a design language that has always felt less like fashion and more like a point of view. From ceremonial couture to their prestige-prêt line S&N, the Maison has consistently operated from one guiding principle: always have a reason to dress up.
Now, that philosophy is expanding its address.
Myntra Luxe, the platform’s curated space for designer and luxury labels, which has been attracting the aspirational fashion-forward customer base well beyond the metros — has welcomed two new expressions of the Shantnu & Nikhil universe. The first is S&N by Shantnu & Nikhil, the Maison’s prestige-prêt line, arriving with over 500 styles across menswear and womenswear. Think tailored shirts, modern kurtas, dresses, and gowns, designed to move as effortlessly through a wedding as they do through a modern social setting. The second is something rather unexpected, and entirely compelling: Shantnu Nikhil Cricket Club, making its debut on an e-commerce platform for the very first time.
SNCC, for the uninitiated, is the Maison’s love letter to India’s most emotionally loaded sport. Launched in 2023, it took cricket — India’s greatest unifier and reframed it through fashion. Yorker polos, quarter zippers, crested sweatshirts, jackets and stretch trousers — over 70 styles that carry the visual codes of the clubhouse and the pitch into everyday life. It’s sporty, yes. But it’s also deeply referential, rooted in nostalgia without being trapped by it.
Together, the two launches mark something significant. We sat down with the designers to understand what this moment means for the Maison, and where it’s all going.
ELLE: Your design language has always been rooted in couture and occasionwear. What made this the right moment to translate that vision onto a platform like Myntra Luxe?
Shantnu & Nikhil (S & N): At the heart of the Maison lies a philosophy of structure, fluidity, and self-expression. Shantnu Nikhil Couture has always been the purest articulation of that belief, but the intent has never been to confine it to occasion alone. S&N by Shantnu Nikhil, our Prestige-Pret brand, extends these couture codes into a more accessible, everyday language guided by the idea to always have a reason to dress up. It brings precision, tailoring, and identity into a format that can be lived in. SNCC evolves that further, born from our instinctive connection to cricket and sport, translating their discipline and cultural memory into an easy, lifestyle-driven wardrobe.
Myntra Luxe becomes relevant in this context. It allows these expressions of the Maison to exist in a space where the modern consumer is already engaging with fashion digitally, intuitively, and without boundaries bringing together aspiration and ease in a way that feels immediate, personal, and real.
ELLE: Shantnu Nikhil Cricket Club introduces a more lifestyle-driven narrative. What drew you to cricket as a cultural starting point, and how did you translate that into a contemporary wardrobe?
S & N: Sport has always been an instinctive part of our lives, and cricket, in particular, carries a certain emotional familiarity; it’s something you grow up with, almost without realising. That personal connection made it a natural starting point. Beyond the game itself, we were drawn to its quieter codes, the discipline, the camaraderie, and the understated elegance that defines cricket culture. There’s a balance of structure and ease within it that feels closely aligned with our design language.
Shantnu Nikhil Cricket Club was built from that space. We translated those cues, club stripes, crests, relaxed tailoring into a wardrobe of elevated sporty essentials. It’s about pushing those codes beyond boundaries, into pieces that feel effortless, versatile, and instinctively part of everyday life.
ELLE: There’s a growing intersection between sport and fashion globally. How do you see SNCC contributing to this conversation within the Indian context?
S & N: Globally, sport and fashion often intersect through performance or trend. In India, the relationship carries a different kind of depth because sport itself is layered with culture, nostalgia, and identity. With SNCC, we’re not responding to sport as a moment, we’re interpreting it as a continuum. Cricket already holds a visual and emotional language that feels inherently refined. Our approach has been to distill that language into something more considered where structure meets ease, and heritage is expressed through a contemporary lens. It’s less about athleticism, and more about how sport informs the way we dress, beyond the field.
ELLE: Today’s luxury consumer is as driven by emotion as by intent — they want meaning, but also wearability and value. How is this duality shaping the way you design across both S&N and SNCC?
S & N: Duality has always been central to our house codes; the interplay between structure and fluidity, occasion and ease, is how we’ve always expressed design. With S&N by Shantnu Nikhil, this takes shape through a prestige-prêt vocabulary; silhouettes created for moments that matter, where dressing carries intent, presence, and individuality.
With SNCC, the same philosophy becomes more instinctive. It’s about sporty essentials that live within the Maison; easy, versatile, and built for everyday expression without losing identity. Platforms like Myntra and Myntra Luxe reflect how this duality is experienced today, where aspiration meets accessibility, and where pieces are not just discovered, but integrated into daily life. The codes remain constant, but the way they are engaged with, continues to evolve.
ELLE: With this expansion into new categories and platforms, how do you see the Shantnu & Nikhil universe evolving in the next few years?
S & N: The evolution is about building a more complete wardrobe. Couture remains the foundation of the Maison. S&N extends that into a contemporary occasion space. SNCC takes it further into lifestyle and everyday dressing. Together, they create a continuum rather than separate categories allowing the consumer to move fluidly between celebration, travel, and daily life. Going forward, the focus is on strengthening this ecosystem where each vertical has its own identity, but all remain rooted in the same design philosophy of structure, fluidity, and modern expression.
The Conversation Has Only Just Begun
What this launch ultimately signals is something the industry has been watching being built quietly for a while now — the arrival of Indian couture thinking into spaces it once kept a careful distance from. Accessible price points, digital platforms, lifestyle categories: these were not traditionally the terrain of a house rooted in ceremonial craftsmanship. And yet, in Shantnu & Nikhil’s hands, the codes don’t dilute. They travel.
The Maison isn’t interested in dressing people for a single event — they want to design for the life around it. The airport arrival, the afterparty exit, the unbothered brunch the next morning. S&N by Shantnu & Nikhil and SNCC on Myntra Luxe are the most concrete expression yet of that ambition.
The codes remain constant. The conversation, as it turns out, has only just begun.
