Mickey Boardman: How did you first get interested in fashion? Have you been interested in fashion since you were children?

Tina Sutradhar: The first interest began when I was 10 years old. I was watching the Miss World pageant on TV, and that was the year Miss India Yukta Mookhey had become Miss World. That was the first time I remember seeing people from so many different countries wearing all different kinds of outfits and it just sparked this interest in me and ever since then I used to have a sketchbook and I used to draw on clothes and things like that. So, that was the first ever thing that inspired me. And that was like back in 1999.

Nikita Sutradhar: But for me, I think I just didn't want to do anything related to studies.
So I kind of followed Tina, what she was doing. And then I gradually developed a liking for fashion and clothes.

Tina: And also, when we were young, back then IndVia didn’t have any fashion magazines. We had a local bookstore and we used to go there with our father to buy Teen Vogues, the British Vogues. They were expensive, but my father knew that we had an interest so that was okay, it was like an investment. So, we used to literally eat those magazine pages (laughs).

MB: So what did you study? Did you know then that you wanted to study fashion?

TS: We did eventually study fashion. After we finished 10th grade, in India you have to choose between three streams: arts, science and commerce. I just happened to choose commerce, and Nikita happened to choose arts. After my 12th grade, I went on to do a bachelors in commerce. But while I was studying that, I was also doing this short course in fashion design from a local institute in the city. But for Nikita, after she completed her 12th grade, she went to Raffles Design in Mumbai to study design. So she kind of really excelled and gained a lot of technical know-how because they really focussed on that here.

TS: I guess it has something to do with our upbringing. I mean, we grew up in a very simple middle class family but I think it's my father who had the most influence on us, because he was a musician. And although he played with Bollywood bands and all of that, his interest was mainly jazz and world music. So our house was filled with CDs and cassettes from all around the world. He kind of had that very international impact on us. And also because we were watching a lot of Hollywood movies and cartoons and magazines and all of that.

NS: My father used to travel a lot when we were young, so he used to bring a lot of things from abroad when he used to go on tours to London and America. He used to buy clothes from there for us, which we used to wear most of the time. I think that's how we got influenced. But yeah,
it comes very naturally for us.

TS: Being in London really polished and aesthetic I would say. Our design heroes and references are also people like Miuccia Prada, Raf Simons and Phoebe Philo.

NS: I think somehow India influenced us in the way that we use color. Like in everyday life, people are just walking around not trying to make any fashion statement, they just mix and match anything that they have, which is quite interesting. Like red pants and a blue shirt.

MB: That is one of the amazing things about India. I've sort of picked that up, everything goes with everything. It doesn't really matter what colors they are, it's more important for the tones to work together, but it's very exciting and liberating to see a street full of color. So after you graduated, how long after that did you start your line? And did you start it in India or in London?

NS: We did a two year course, and then we topped up to the BA honors in womenswear. So we had an additional year and we finished the BA course. During our third year, we made the graduate collection and then we just thought that we should start the brand.

TS: Our dream was always to start the brand. I remember the night before we both left for London. We were literally jumping in the bedroom thinking we're going to London to make Miuniku. That was always the dream but we didn't know what the timeline would be like.
We thought that we might have to work somewhere after graduating and then somehow start the brand. At the end of our second year, we worked on one collection together. And then at the end of our third year we worked on our second (graduate) collection. And then after we finished our studies we came back home. We were applying for jobs and it was kind of a vain pursuit because we were applying together. I don't think anyone would accept a combined portfolio.
But we were still trying and applying for jobs, looking up any competitions. We got to be a part of the H&M Design Award that year, but we didn't make it to the finals. And while searching for jobs, Nikita just came across the LVMH prize ad and we were like, what is this surreal competition. We wouldn’t ose anything if we applied and we didn't think we would get anywhere because we could see who else was applying and who was going to be judging and everything. And then we applied for that and that is what really helped us to continue making collections and working on the brand.

MB: Was Phoebe Philo, one of the judges when you won?

NS: Yeah, she was.

TS: Even now, it's been so many years, but even when we think about it, now, it kind of feels unreal. And we were there presenting our collections and I remember Phoebe Philo was at our booth, she was looking at our collection. And Nicolas Ghesquière, who had just joined LV, met her for first time there. And they were like,  “did you get the flowers that I sent you”. That was quite amazing. All of them were really nice and very easy to talk to. Especially Marc Jacobs.

MB:Did they bring you to Paris or did you have to bring yourself to Paris for the contest?

TS: They did everything.

MB: You were one of the runners-up?

TS: We were. they were supposed to have just one winner. But then, I think the judges took like two or three hours to decide and it was a really long time and everyone's just waiting and losing their patience. The judges had a long discussion and i think it was Kar Lagerfeld was the one who said, “you have to give it to two more people”. So it was Hood By Air and us, who won the special prize.

MB: And who was the one who won officially?

TS: It was Thomas Tait. We actually interned with him when we were studying.

MB: Looking from that group of three, I think Thomas Tait is not in business anymore, and
Hood By Air is not doing anything. So it just sort of shows how crazy and difficult fashion is.
Did you think when you got the prize that you were set for life, for designing?

TS: Not really, because we were very young and we still didn’t understand the magnitude of what was happening. I'm really glad that we got the opportunity. I remember in the next few days we met Julie Gilhart, and she was so kind, spending the afternoon with us and taking us to lunch and then we walked around Paris. And she was really advising us that it's not going to be easy. You have to do things with a lot of responsibility because all eyes are going to be on you. We really took her advice and listened to her carefully. We also received mentorship from LVMH with Sophie Brocart, who is now the CEO at Patou. It was really great because we were meeting her once or twice a month, and we were asking her everything, because we had no idea what to do next. Should we be a part of a showroom, do a presentation? She really helped us in that way. We were just trying to take it one step at a time. Make a collection and show it in Paris, get the sales done. It is difficult, no doubt. Some seasons the sales were better than in the others.
It's a bit unpredictable.

MB: How did you come up with the name Miuniku?

NS: That's our nicknames actually joined together. So my parents nicknamed her Miu and mine is Niku.

TS: And all our aunts and uncles have been calling us “miuniku” since the beginning so we were like, we have to do something with that.

MB: It seems to me, but I could be wrong, that often Indian creatives who are successful around the world are not successful in India and vice versa.. Do you think that's true? And do you think that's the case with Miuniku.

NS: We still have a long way to go. In India, it’s a very niche market. Very few people are appreciative of that kind of design. But in India the flip side is also that if you made a name abroad, you're more respected in the country. But market wise, it's a small, niche market.

MB: You were saying how there weren't really many fashion magazines in India. What do you think now compared to when you were growing up?

TS: The generic fashion magazines are still quite Bollywood centric, because that’s how Indians understand fashion and culture. But then there is a shift that's happening. Now there are more offbeat features. I think the Vogue Reset (January 2022 issue of Vogue India) is quite a prominent example. But yeah, I think there is a shift that's happening. People are more open to new ideas of representing fashion.

MB: Do you have any specific goals now or do you not think that way? Where would you like to see the brand in five or ten years? Or do you just think about the current collection you're working on?

TS: We definitely want to maintain the originality of the brand and protect the design sense, that's why we’re taking it really slow. For us, that is more precious than making money. We want it to be a global brand, that's always been our vision. We want to sell good pieces. It gives us so much joy to see someone wearing one of our pieces even on a magazine, that's like our reward. In the next 5-10 years we definitely want Miuniku to be a brand that people can go to to buy a piece that is special to them and will keep for years. That’s what we are building towards, but taking it one step at a time.

MB: At least in America, department stores are doing so badly. How do you see yourself selling, through other stores, direct to consumers or with private clients?

NS: We’ve started working directly with clients now, because it also helps with building a nice relationship, it's quite personal.

TS: We offer customization, in length, size and colour. At the moment, it's quite made-to-order, and we also think that it’s a sustainable approach. So we want to keep it that way. But also we want to be stocked at a few nice department stores.

MB: Which stores would you like to be in?

NS: In America it would be Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.

MB: Do you think in collections or will a piece still be available even if it's not that season?

TS: Yeah the pieces are still available because we have all of the patterns and we still get requests from our very first collection.
We always have that option available.

MB: What do you think about presentations? I've been to your presentations in Paris and London but now partly because of the pandemic or just in general, do you think it's good to do a presentation or a runway show or just do some kind of film or photo release, how do you approach that now?

TS: I think digitally it's possible to reach a much larger audience. I mean definitely that whole tactile nature of being at a presentation and being at a runway show can't be compared, but at the moment for us, digital makes more sense. To convey our idea, our inspirations through images, videos and music. It's very exciting.

NS: But in the future we would definitely love to do presentations again. I don't think it compares to seeing something in person, it's a completely different feeling.

MB: Since this is a bit about education and your schooling, have you worked with students in India or other places? Have you taken that role of being a mentor to those who are students now? What's that been like?

TS: We graduated from London college of Fashion in 2014 and one of our classmates became one of the online short course directors there. She reached out to us to ask if we could design
a few courses. I had actually been teaching at LCF online short courses, from 2016 to 2020. I kind of condensed the entire design process in seven weeks. That was an amazing experience because i got to meet people from all over the world from all walks of life, and have this exchange of knowledge.

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