A white wedding gown is hardly new. But seen through the lens of Mizoram and Nagaland, it begins to look a little different.
That is where 'With Nanai & Akimugha Yeptho' comes in. Founded by Angela Lalramtiami and Akimugha Yeptho soon after they graduated from NIFT Bengaluru, the label made its debut with 'Bride from the N-East', a collection of white bridalwear shaped by the places they grew up in and the textiles they have known all their lives.
That connection runs through the name, too. Nanai is a term of endearment used in Angela’s family, while “With” brings Akimugha into the picture. The two had been planning to start a label together since their second year of college. “We decided in our second year of college to start a label together, along with building our lives together,” they say.
Starting together also meant figuring out what they wanted the label to stand for. “Purpose was always one thing that we both have always wanted to bring in fashion through stories, textiles and craft.” Their idea of fashion came from very different experiences, but both were rooted in where they grew up.
For Akimugha, that meant looking at fashion from outside the references he was seeing in mainstream music and films. “The place I come from has shaped fashion for me in such a way that it was very different and felt different from the kind of music that people listen to and movies where clothing was a major part,” he says. That difference made him curious about clothes and design. Even while studying, he would imagine the person who might eventually wear what he was creating.
Angela’s starting point was closer to home. In her community, dressing up and talking about fashion were simply part of everyday life. “People around dressed up. Talking about fashion was very normal,” she says. Being surrounded by people who paid attention to design and aesthetics shaped her eye early on.
Those two perspectives meet in 'Bride from the N-East'. The collection takes the white bridal dress and fills it with details from the Northeast, from handwoven textiles to embroidery inspired by the natural surroundings they grew up around. Puan and other regional weaves sit alongside satin, lace and structured silhouettes.
The references are not always obvious at first glance. One silhouette takes its shape from a traditional bamboo basket, turning something familiar into a sculptural bridal form. Floral embroidery brings in hibiscus and Himalayan cherry blossom, adding another layer without taking over the clothes.
The same can be seen in how the designers work with traditional textiles. Rather than covering them in embellishment, they sometimes keep the weave simple and let the cut of the garment change the way it looks.
That is a conscious choice. For the designers, these textiles already carry enough history. “Some textiles come with a lot of history and stories behind why it’s even there. That holds a lot of meaning and value,” they say. “Because when we try to disturb the craft that has been there for a long time, the stories of that craft get lost."
It also explains why white bridalwear felt like the right place to begin. White weddings are familiar across several communities in the Northeast, yet the designers felt these wedding traditions were not seen enough in the wider Indian bridal space. Their collection looks at the dress, but also at everything around it, including décor and the way the wedding itself comes together.
That wider view carries into the bride they want to dress. She is “keen on design but rooted in her own culture”, someone who thinks about the fabric she wears, the amount of embroidery involved and what she will feel about the dress years later.
That last part is important to them. They want the dress to hold on to the memory of the day, rather than become something that gets packed away once the photographs are over. If a bride cannot find what she wants in an existing design, the designers prefer to work with her one-on-one and build it around her.