‘I have always been stylish’

From what he is told he was – a brat, to becoming India’s most celebrated fashion designer for men, Arjun Khanna has delightful memories of his childhood.
Born in Nainital, Khanna spent some years in Delhi before his family moved to Mumbai. “I am told that I was a brat,” he says with a laugh. “But I really think I was a good boy.” All set to rock the capital with his collection designed for Smirnoff Black on Thursday evening, Khanna keeps his trademark boyish charm alive in his smile and his clothes.
“I always loved clothes. Even while at school, there had to be something different. Either I would roll up my sleeves in some style or roll up my trouser as far as I was allowed,” he recalls. He admits that academics were not his calling. “I was meant to be packed off to some boarding school,” he jokes. “I was constantly up to something mischievous or the other. I just could not handle my studies.”
“I was more a sports lover. Badminton was the big thing at the time but I was into athletics, shot put, long jump and everything else on the field. I was so involved in sports that I failed in my class VI and changed my school about six to seven times.”
Instead of being hurt by the frequent change, Khanna says it helped him make so many more friends. “I was particularly close to this friend of mine, who is now my brother-in-law, and we would bunk lass in such a smart way that no one would find out,” he says.
However, he does not believe in doing out the same advice to youngsters today. “The world is so much more competitive today. I am a firm believer of do what you do well. If you want to be an architect or a doctor, which requires years of studies then go ahead for it but if your interest is in an arts line, you must excel in it.”