Glamour, Grit, and Gentlemanly Grace: The Chandran brothers’ fashion odyssey

Trunan—the second of Bernard’s five children—who also studied finance and economics and held an auditing job for a while, did work with his father for a year, “just to see how the family business is run”. He discloses that perhaps the timing then was not right; “I realised I lacked certain skills… and I was like, I need to build a discipline for myself.” He went back to a corporate job to “ingrain in me all those values.” Embracing this growth, Trunan now works in a global financial technology firm and totally rocks a vibe of an eager entrepreneur exploring the business world. 

See also: Style Lessons From My Dad: Bernard Chandran and Tanestrran Chandran

The brothers are in many ways the archetype of the “modern gentleman”: polite, driven and confident. While they are often mistaken for twins, their styles are distinct: Terimunite is more “exclusive member’s club” while Trunan’s style is all about the beach. “I would describe my style as casual chic,” says Trunan. “What that means to me is just wearing a T-shirt and jeans whilst accessorising it to make it my own [and] adding a few personal touches,” he says as he waggles his fingers, six out of ten of them decked in rings featuring varying semi-precious stones. Later, for a social media styling challenge with Tatler, Terimunite says, “My brother loves his rings; you can’t get him away from those.” Terimunite, meanwhile, leans towards classic men’s fashion and adds a dash of the Italian sprezzatura—a studied nonchalance—and anything cinematic: “Sartorial with a modern twist. I add a little here and a little there to change it up, from the prints on my shirt to the type of shoes.” 

Where they overlap is in their style philosophy, which is to subtly stand out. Both of them radiate a certain main-character energy, which is fitting, given their love of movies. “We like our cigars and whiskies, and we like to dress up in nice suits …  Films are one of the inspirations,” says Terimunite, adding that he, Trunan, and their two other brothers Tanzanite and Tanestrran have some overlapping tastes, as well as an understanding of how fashion can be empowering. “[Clothes are] like the modern-day suit of armour. You wear a nice suit, and it gives you a sense of power, control and discipline.”

Terimunite tells Tatler that their father always emphasised the importance of dressing literally to impress, in particular in a work setting. “It shows that you’re serious and you’re there to do the job right.” He also always bears in mind advice from his university professors, who told him to always polish his shoes for an interview because “that’s the first thing they look at. Everybody has a CV and about the same qualification here and there. But when they look at your shoes, that’s where they automatically differentiate you—you’re detail-oriented.” 

Trunan chimes in on the shoe-polishing front: “I think it’s very important because I think grooming yourself and putting in the effort might seem tiring or [trivial], but if you do it, you feel better. And it’s also showing your character. Like the guy in the movie John Wick says, ‘How you do anything is how you do everything.’”

The pair strongly believe that it is better to be overdressed than underdressed. As Terimunite puts it, “When you dress up for an occasion you respect the host and the occasion… It says, ‘I really want to be here and I value your time’, so I put on my best shoes or my best shirt.”

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The brothers’ priority when it comes to clothes is the fit; they have no loyalty to specific brands as such, looking instead for exciting details and good tailoring. 

This shopping-out-of-the box was instilled from a young age. “What my dad used to get us to do is go to a thrift store and look at all these random clothes—sometimes they wouldn’t even have brands on them,” Terimunite says. “Sometimes I would buy leather jackets that are actually made for women because they’d just fit better­—when you buy the men’s ones, you kinda swim in them. Sometimes we get velvet jackets as well from the women’s side.”   

“I’m wearing a woman’s shirt now,” Trunan interjects. “I thought the print was nice.” 

“You know, it comes down to style: how can you make [an item] your own,” Terimunite concludes. “You can take something that’s very feminine and turn it into a masculine thing. It really shows how you can play around with your style.”

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