Mriga Kapadiya and Amrit Kumar didn’t set out to build a global fashion brand. The creatives, who met through a mutual friend after university in Toronto, had previously admired each other’s work from afar: Kumar reworked vintage clothing at a boutique, while Kapadiya worked in photography and produced shows and events across the city. When they finally became friends, the pair bonded over a shared love of their mothers’ intricately crafted shawls made from Indian textiles, a nod to their shared heritage. For a while, it was just something they’d talk about—until November 2008, when Kapadiya decided to move to Bombay for a personal change.

Born in India and raised in Kuwait before moving with her family to Canada, Kapadiya was returning to her cultural roots at a time when she felt she had outgrown Toronto. “The environment of being a bustling, vibrant coastal Indian city just felt exciting,” Kapadiya says. Five months after her move, Kumar visited her friend and never left. The pair became roommates.

What began as casual conversations about South Asian textiles soon became a deeper curiosity: reading, researching and asking questions. “There was no intention to start the brand,” Kumar says. “We were just exploring, meeting people, making things.”

Eventually, they travelled to the region of Kutch, Gujarat, where they ended up at Kala Raksha, a school dedicated to preserving regional Kutchi textiles, including Bandhani—an intricate tie-dye textile whose design is achieved by plucking the cloth with fingernails. There, a multi-generational artisanal family worked with them to design their own Bandhani. Unbeknownst to them, they were taking the first steps toward what would eventually become their brand. “We designed some textiles, brought them to our Bombay apartment, and piece by piece started to build from there,” Kumar says. They learned along the way, collaborating with a master tailor—who remains with the company today—to refine each piece. Meanwhile, Kapadiya and Kumar, and their friends and family, modelled in their photo shoots and also started appearing at tradeshows in Paris to secure their first buyers.

A year since Kumar landed in Bombay, the duo’s piece-by-piece creative outlet became a full collection. The friends officially became co-founders, launching NorBlack NorWhite (NBNW)—a name chosen as a nod to their opposite yin and yang energies and a commentary on how the fashion industry operates within black-and-white constraints. It’s a name that means rejecting binaries, embracing nuance and carving out space for everything in between.

With an emphasis on streetwear, the collections are composed of handmade pieces that are manufactured in their Delhi studio. Their Only You Bubble Vest, a tie-dye unisex outerwear vest that resembles a beetle’s hard exterior, and their Rainbow Brite Babydoll Dress pull attention with unique and eye-catching prints.

Now based between India and Canada, NBNW’s technicolour tie-dye designs are a sartorial love letter to its community—celebrating the craftsmanship rooted in South Asian culture while reimagining it for the future. Although the brand may be labelled as streetwear in the fashion lexicon, its co-founders don’t subscribe to that designation. Stepping away from trends, NBNW’s inspiration stems from the fluidity and vibrancy of India’s own streets. They design intuitively, interpreting and articulating how their surroundings make them feel through their physical pieces.

In October 2015, the brand showed at The Fabric of India exhibit at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, exploring textiles from the country throughout history. And people were captivated by the brand of expression. Since its launch, NBNW has been worn by the likes of Yara Shahidi, Raveena and Major Lazer, along with this issue’s 3 magazine cover star, Lilly Singh.

Now, they’re cementing their place in the mainstream. This summer, the duo partnered with Nike to release an end-of-summer collection. Featuring cricketers Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma, sprinter Priya Mohan and wrestler Anshu Malik, the Nike x NorBlack NorWhite collection returns to the brand’s original Bandhani roots, applying the design practice to activewear.

The partnership began taking shape years ago, after the megabrand came calling. It marks Nike’s first global campaign with a South Asian–owned brand, following past collaborations with NIGO, Sacai and Susan Fang.

The collection sees textiles and prints in muted deep-sea blues and slate greys that align with Nike’s seasonal palette. The final looks balance function with NBNW’s signature whimsical tie-dye pieces styled with saris and beaded cricket pads, both hallmarks of South Asian culture.

For founders Kapadiya and Kumar, the moment is significant—building on their earlier capsule collection with Fila India in 2018. As with Nike, the co-founders were approached by Fila directly, which the pair attributes in part to NBNW’s reputation for pushing the boundaries of how craft and textile can be interpreted. They have received encouraging feedback and hope to inspire young creatives to stay focused and authentic.

Fifteen years since the launch of NBNW, the co-founders are still finding inspiration in the place that started it all: a particular colour that catches their eye or the setting of a shop in the market—the constantly moving and evolving streets of the country they now call home.