Ratul and Komal Sood are poring over their creations when t2 drops by one evening at Sood off Park Street. Anticipation hangs in the air. Ratul and Komal are talking animatedly. A new baby on the block has given a spin to an otherwise regular evening at work. The husband-wife duo are all set to send out Kommal and Ratul Sood —a menswear label — at Amazon India Fashion Week (Delhi) on March 18.

“It’s a good way to announce to the country that we have arrived!” smiles Ratul. Well, t2 has double reason to wish the stylish couple. Best of luck for the show and Ratul, a very happy birthday to you from Team t2! 

Congratulations on your first collaboration together! 

Ratul: We were together in the same space (at Sood), but she handles womenswear and I am into menswear. Today we are collaborating for a special platform of fashion week. Komal’s done a lot of shows at fashion weeks. This is my fashion week debut… Sood’s debut. There is a big interest in menswear. There are few brands that are established in menswear.

You have a Rohit Bal, a Shantanu & Nikhil, a Raghavendra Rathore… 

Komal: Rohit-Rahul (Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna)… I pitched for a menswear show this time.
Ratul: We’ve been solid at fits, right? Now we are taking that fit experience and background and getting into creativity… nice flair in design and colour, moving with the trend, the seasons… that’s what’s exciting for us. 

Komal: We have a Savile Row sensibility which we are applying to seasonal fashion. 

Ratul: The reason I put my name in it is to give it authenticity. Komal hasn’t done menswear and suddenly if she does menswear, there seems to be a disconnect. 

How is it coming along?

Komal: He is there for design and for all the technical skills behind it and I am there for aesthetics, fashion communication…

Ratul: There is so much that goes into a show! Styling, choreography, music, clothes, shoes… it’s like raising kids. You need two people. 

Komal: I have basically controlled...! (Laughs) The aesthetics… editing the looks, developing some of the fabrics…. 

Ratul: If you leave it to me, I’ll choose my best clothes and give it! But, you cannot! You got to have a story running through. 

Komal: He would bring out so many fabrics and I would tell him… ‘No, these are your four fabrics!’

Ratul: It’s very easy for her to do music. I think I like music more than her but she works out the choices....

Komal: Styling, hair and make-up… we are looking at a sporty look.    

What are you showing?

Ratul: The colour theme is black, white and chrome. We are showing 11 pieces out of which three are womenswear (gowns). It’s mostly party wear but we have one achkan. We do want to show a bit of what we are good at.  

Komal: We have explored whatever we could! 

Ratul: We are showing clothes that a person can wear and go out very confidently. The kind of detailing we have done… a lot of long, drape-y shirts… nearly all our garments are three or four layered, but we are doing that with western silhouettes for men to straightaway pick up, wear and hit a party. The metallic sheen. We are trying to find the balance between being creative as well as commercial. And, also make it new. If it is not new, then people are not going to go ‘wow!’ We’ve done some nice patchwork fringes, made some new trousers… these are going to be wow. We have given it a good shot and people are going to see a nice design sensibility of ours. Great fits and modern partywear. 

What is it that you want to say about the label through your first collection?

Komal: For me, menswear is about Ratul and his style. He is natty and dapper. Everything we present, I wanted him to be able to wear. It has to be his style. 

Ratul: Also, what makes me really happy other than work, kids, family? It’s sports. I love sports. I love going to the gym thrice a week, play golf and badminton seriously. I have got seven days of sports in my head before I come to work. So, I want this collection to be sporty. Now, how do you make formalwear sporty? We are going to style it sporty… interesting footwear… partywear with a sporty feel. Out here in the store it is very wedding-centric. This label is for the customer who is a lot more experimental and edgy. It’s young and funky. 

Finally, how was it working together? 

Ratul: We have been married for 20 years and sharing workspace for the last 15 years. I think I am more calm… it looks overwhelming, but you need to know that you’ve got to keep at it. I am glad that we have each other in the team. 
Komal: We have learnt so much along the way. 

Ratul: For the first time I am seeing from a design point of view how difficult it is to create something original. For everything we have been doing so far, we know we have a set customer.

Komal: I have been watching a lot of menswear shows and it is so amazing! Working with Ratul? I really have to exercise control… I have to tell him what can’t be done! But, it’s fun.

Ratul: It’s great to do something together. It’s about making your future better.     

Komal: It’s a good presence for the Sood brand too. 

Ratul: We’ll definitely be doing more shows.