Their cosy Lake Gardens home is deliciously fragrant with the aroma of fresh, home-made cookies when we land up for this special shoot. Much like their 17-year-old marriage. Perfumed with romance, togetherness and bonding that is palpable. Pinky and Shaun Kenworthy. On the sidelines of a fun fashion shoot where the couple sport four cool looks mirroring different moods, they tell The Telegraph what’s life like with each other.
Pinky, have you over the years had a say in how Shaun dresses?
Pinky: I have never pushed him into wearing anything, but when I first met him, he wore atrocious Crocs all the time and I hated them! At some point in his wardrobe I found he had a bright yellow shirt with a dragon and some colourful check pants. He has his own mind. One can’t tell him anything. Sometimes I make some weird remarks like, ‘You look like a magician’, and he changes it. Or, ‘That shoe with that? Maybe not!’ I think his sense of style is casual and relaxed. He doesn’t bother or give a damn. He is comfortable in his own skin. He never wants to do more than what he does, which is great.
When I met him, he never wore jeans and I lived in them and he didn’t understand why people would wear jeans.
Shaun: For years I wore linen pants.
Pinky: It was me who maybe slowly pushed him to try denims because they are easy to wear and they are hardy.
Shaun: Back in the old days, you didn’t get stretch denims and I have these enormous calves and they wouldn’t fit in any trousers. These days I have got some stretch fabric jeans.
Pinky: And, these days he lives in them. Also, in the last few years, I have prompted him to buy some cool sneakers because I love them and once I pointed it out, he loves them and he is enjoying wearing them.
Pinky is chic in sky blue Miakee coords and Shaun casual-cool in denim on denim + sneakers. “You can wear this at home to host guests or walk to the coffee shop too,” says Ankita.
What about shopping?
Pinky: I have never picked anything for him (clothes) and he will never dare pick anything for me. Thank God! Gifts are generally books, arts, artefacts. I have never gotten a Valentine’s gift from him and this year I told him, ‘You buy me the pink dress for Valentine’s!’
What would you love him to experiment with?
Pinky: I have been a model and done a lot of experiments. So I’ve been there and done that. For me there is no novelty in great experimentation. At every formal party he will only wear a kurta pyjamas. I like that. He has worn dhoti and kurta to many consulate parties.
Shaun, what would you like to see Pinky in?
Shaun: She is a cool chick. Always has been.
Pinky: There you go! I got a ‘cool chick’ compliment.
Shaun: Not just her but I like women in casuals with little make-up on. She is never overdressed anyway. I love seeing her in saris and she pins them up very well and makes them look great. She enjoys it and I get involved in it.
Pinky: We are both creative. So, I am doing something creative, he pitches in. I am doing it impromptu.
Shaun: I’ll remind her she has something she can use. She has so much and she has no clue where it starts and ends. She also has a relatively single-tone wardrobe. We’ll do a wash and it’ll be black clothes.
Pinky: Mine is also a uniform. I took to black years back and love wearing it. I have all varieties, shades and tones of black. It’s only with saris that I wear colour.
Shaun: If she has to quickly get ready, no problem. If she has two hours to think about it, then she’ll pull out things from god knows where and I’d be like, how did you end up looking like that and what you wore two hours ago looked great.
Shaun, do you tell her not to buy any more shoes?
Pinky: No, never! He does all the packing! (Laughs)
Shaun: That’s the only time we argue! By the end of a trip, she’ll have 15-20 pairs. And heels are the most awful things to pack really.
Pinky: I am also thinking, how many can I hide in my tote bag!
Pinky and Shaun Kenworthy channel relaxed vibes in black, their common favourite, as they bake a batch of yummy cookies. A comfortable look to lounge in at home. While Shaun is in a classic V-neck black T-shirt and joggers, Pinky is in comfy coords by Miakee. Ankita Banerjee styles it with a gold chain to “break the monotony of the black”.
Pinky, Shaun packs for you. Let’s hear what you do for Shaun!
Shaun: I do all the housework!
Pinky: Don’t say that! Okay, he makes the morning coffee and arranges all the things...
Shaun: Pretty much does everything.
Pinky: I make him paturi!
Shaun: That was four years ago.
Pinky: I introduced him to sheddho bhaat, Jharna ghee and all the makhas.
Shaun: Which she hasn’t made in four years!
Pinky: I am also his personal translator. And the English has to go through an acid test.
Shaun: That’s anybody I am around....
Pinky: You are around most of the time. It’s a lifelong project. His life depends on me!
Shaun: Aacha?!
Pinky and Shaun are ready for a memorable date in smart formals. She is in a Misaki co-ord set and a Vedant Jain jacket and he is in an ensemble from Agape Designer Menswear Studio and black-rimmed glasses.
What is your definition love?
Pinky: If he bought me roses, I would go: ‘Why?... They would die....’ Love is doing things together, like helping him in the kitchen because I have sort of become a sous chef! (Laughs) And maybe him giving me advice on how short my hair should be and again making some funny comments. We do pretty much everything together because we don’t have so many friends. We know the whole world and we go to parties and people come over, but we don’t hang out with people, we only hang out with each other. There is not a point in the day when we don’t laugh. There is a lot of laughter. We don’t go for movies together because he hates movies and I go for movies alone....
Shaun: I like documentaries and things I will learn something from.
Pinky: The only small disgruntlement we might have is what to watch on Netflix because I am a freak on criminal suspense English-British series which are gory and serious...
Shaun: ...I think I have seen enough of them and I am not going to learn anything else now.
Pinky: Then he’d only want to watch war documentaries.
Shaun: I am history obsessive.
Pinky: Okay, we are together this evening... which is most evenings... so, what are we going to watch... and because we don’t agree half the time, we switch off the TV. I read and he is playing a video game on his phone. We have no problem.
Shaun: If that happens, she watches it on her phone.
Pinky: There is no need that somebody has to talk all the time and we found that out in the UK in the first lockdown because there were no books to read and there was a TV which didn’t have fancy channels and we didn’t have Wi-Fi... very comfortable in that space.
Shaun: In most relationships, there is one-way nagging that over-dominates the other person.
Pinky: We don’t bother each other at all. We don’t pressure each other to do anything. We don’t have aspirations of a big car, living in a fancy building, wearing designer clothes top to bottom.
Shaun: We’ve also had previous relationships.
Pinky: I was married before and he had his previous relationship.
Shaun: Whatever you learn from your first relationship... I don’t want that in my life any more. You make it simpler. Life has been simple. We have had a couple of trials and tribulations in our life and most people would say ‘you guys are still together after what happened’.... but beyond that we’ve had incredibly simple lives really. We give each other a lot of space and we don’t pester and bother each other.
Messages for each other...
Shaun: Continue as you are. She has lots of ideas. I guess if she had something that she really focused on and it took up a lot of her life, she’ll be more fulfilled with it. There is so much more she can do.
Pinky: Just stay the way you are. Now, he has become my physical instructor.
They are so colourful together. I have met Pinky and Shaun at so many parties and have seen them being experimental. The outfits I had curated had a dash of colour and were flirty and fun, but the fact that they have been married for so many years, I wanted to make the looks interactive, wearable and a little different. The four looks are versatile and they are different moods. Different types of couples have different approaches to dressing up. Shaun is relaxed and Pinky strikes a balance and they came in together to create these beautiful looks. They complement each other and that is why the shoot was effortless— Ankita Banerjee, stylist
Pictures: Pabitra Das
Jewellery: Often Classique
