Ada+ Nik is s a luxury dark matter menswear brand based in London. Ada + Nik is visually content driven; creating fashion films and imagery in collaboration with leading industry directors and filmmakers featuring leading models, artists and fashion muses.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. Together we are Ada Zanditon and Nik Thakkar, and we share a luxury dark matter menswear brand called Ada + Nik, which is stocked in the UK, USA, Hong Kong, and various European countries. We started the brand together just over a year ago as we share a mutual appreciation for each others’ individual creative backgrounds.
We are both established industry influencers with a combined 15 years of experience spanning work with Alexander McQueen, Jean Paul Gaultier, Louis Vuitton and more, so joining forces has already made quite the impact in such a short time.
‘Ada + Nik’ brings to life Nik’s adoration for a monochrome and minimalist luxe aesthetic, nodding to Ada’s previous collections. The brand is as ethically sourced and produced as possible with use of bi-product leather, innovative fabrics and sustainable production and manufacturing techniques.
The brand has fast become a firm favorite amongst leading tastemakers, artists and creatives, and has been featured in publications ranging from the BBC World News to The Daily Telegraph, GQ to Vogue, L’Officiel Hommes to Interview Magazine, and Hypebeast to SHOWstudio; and has been worn and endorsed by celebrity names including Miley Cyrus, Miguel, Zebra Katz, Natalia Kills, Angel Haze and more.
We are also very visually content driven; and have created three fashion films together, the latest one is called Carpe Noctem.
How has living in London affected your work? We both grew up in London and have taken the essence of 80s punk as a huge influence in our work, particularly for the more rebellious side of the brand!
What kinds of things are influencing your work right now? Our brand as a whole is rooted in the fusion of a term we coined as ‘Greco Roman Punk’ — touching upon Bauhaus masculinity and a rebel with a cause. Our influences evolve seasonally but yet remain true to the core of the brand.
What are some recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on? We will be exhibiting the new SS15 collection at The Hub in Hong Kong at the end of August, which is very exciting as The Hub is fast becoming a very influential space in the Asian market, and globally.
Our new film Carpe Noctem, directed by Oz Thakkar, premiered recently on Hypebeast and we recently live projected a shoot with Rainer Torrado and Nolan Saint Claire into Belleville in Paris, which is premiering on OUT magaazine this month. We also just art directed and shot a special project with a very unique model Vin Los and photographer Naskademini in Canada which you can see on The Huffington Post.
Tell us about your work process and how it develops. We both play to each others’ strengths and have a very cohesive design process. We always look to push the boundaries creatively, through product and innovative marketing. For example, our SS15 collection ‘Carpe Noctem’ features over 60 pieces including signature, structural outerwear combining high quality Italian leather with innovative high performance lightweight luxury fabrics including up-cycled showerproof trench, hydrophobic cotton with a high performance silver wash and breathable antibacterial sneaker-net.
Can you share one of the best or worst reactions you have gotten as a result of your work? Miley Cyrus talking about Ada + Nik on stage at one of her tour gigs was pretty epic!