How often do you have an actor stepping beyond his actor facade and donning the hat of a designer to showcase his sense of style? Well Imran Khan is doing that, and let me tell you he's doing it effortlessly and flawlessly for the launch of his co-created debut collection “The Imran Khan Collection” with dENiZEN™ (a label from the Levi’s Strauss & Co. stable).
Ri(t)ch Styles received a personal invitation to attend the launch of the collection and there was no question about what I was gonna do :) I reached the venue and spent some good time interacting with other bloggers before we settled ourselves into some comfy denim bean bags for the launch. I was wondering if they were a part of the collection ;) coz I would have surely bought one! A well created set up which looked like a designer's work space and the collection on mannequins and racks got us all ready to start before Imran walked in with Bhaskar Kelkar, Business Head, Denizen, all set to tell us about the collection and answer our questions.
Imran started with giving us an idea about the collection. This collection delivers the latest in denim fashion to youth and the theme for this Spring-Summer line is “Modern Crafted.” The most interesting aspect of the entire range is that every piece has a reflection of Imran's personality - his signature on every piece, red detailing on the inside stitches of his jeans as he loves red which is also visible in the usage of red in the t-shirts and shirts that are a part of the collection , a ring impression on the jeans watch pocket, a faded look on the pockets that happen to his jeans as he carries two phones and the quirkiest bit being the 'Did you know?' tagline on the t-shirts as his friends call him Wikipedia and go to him with all their queries and ask him :) He turned out to be a typical denim & tee guy!
Some interesting questions gave us more insight into the collection, Imran's involvement and his movie style quotient :
There was a collection last year too but how is the current collection different from the one last year?
The previous collection had a day and night theme. So it had leather effect, darker and comparatively heavier denims than the current range. The current range is lighter weight and colours are more for the summer.
How did you decide to become a designer and what convinced you?
I was already a brand ambassador Denizen and always kept giving my inputs, so they asked me if I wanted to co-create the current collection and I agreed to the idea. For this collection we sat and designed together, chose the most premium quality of denim, we ran through everything together - ideas, inspirations like the canvas label, every rivet, every button, the cuts and every piece even has my signature on it - Now who doesn't want to wear a pair of jeans with their own signature on it? That was the deal sealer ;)
With the crazy schedules that you have, how did you manage?
Well in between shoots I used to designate days to work on the collection where I used to spend time with the team on the designs and other things. The entire team is very young and energetic and it was good fum working with them. When I used to be away on schedules, then we used to co-ordinate over phone and emails and we worked it out like that.
Do you have a say when it comes to your look in a movie or you have to adhere completely to what the stylist says?
They do give us a say for sure. For example in 'Ek Main Aur Ek Tu', I had to play a character who has a certain degree of awkwardness in his actions and mannerisms. He is always stiff, not confident about himself and his body language was wierd. To achieve this, I made them stitch my clothes a size smaller, so the tight collar never let me relax my head, the tight blazer restricted my movement and all this helped me bring out the awkwardness in the character without trying to put up an act.
This is a men's range, so do you have anything in mind for women?
The next collection will also involve a range for women and it will be inspired by the Ivy League.
What distinguishes the T-shirts and shirts in this collection from what the other brands have as the colours, patterns and cuts are more or less the regular red, white, grey, blue and checks?
Its the material that makes these stand apart from the others. Wear them and you will notice how light the materials are. Even though the shirts look like denim, they are the lighter chambray variety which will be fine even for summer wear.
How come your signature tie look hasn't been incorporated into this collection?
The guys at Denizen thought that ties give out the formal feel and is not really for the youth. So they did not incorporate it even though I wear them a lot.
Arvind told us that the collection had received a very positive response and they were promoting it extensively. The only thing that they lack is an online selling platform and are considering it as it will definitely make a difference in this age of e-commerce.
As most of the bloggers present were women, we asked Imran to style one of the pieces on how a woman can wear it, and he picked up his favourite shirt for the collection for that!
In India there is a huge disconnect between the brands and the people who wear them. But here it was good to see that the connect was much stronger. I'm looking forward to the women's collection now!
You can definitely see the family intelligence genes also making a difference here. Imran seemed well read, well spoken, down to earth and quite sweet to talk to :)
I wore this really Quirky jacket from Quirk Box (which Imran also loved) to the launch. Watch out for my next post for more on that!!
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