Dubai Fashion Show
The Manish Malhotra invite-only fashion show will take place on Friday at Jumeirah Emirates Towers, followed by the two-day Design One trunk show starting the following day. Speaking about the collections he is bringing to Dubai, Malhotra says: “Fashion shows have always been about traditional embroidery, lots of bridal looks. But I think the bride today is changing. She is someone who doesn’t fear glamour, someone who isn’t influenced.”
FOR THE LOVE OF BOLLYWOOD
Malhotra’s meteoric rise is a textbook rags-to-riches tale. During those struggling early years in Bollywood, his path crossed with Sridevi in 1993 during the making of Mahesh Bhatt’s Gumrah. The actress was at the top of her game, and for a budding designer, this was the opportunity that would serve well at gaining a firm foothold in the film industry.
“I think every generation has had people who thought beyond. In the ‘90s, when I started my work, I thought beyond,” he reminisces. “[At the time] there was no Lycra fabric available in India. One day, I told Sridevi, why don’t you wear a Lycra top as a sari blouse? She agreed and I picked up an actual dress, cut it up and turned it into a blouse. Suddenly, we had a new trend.”
However, it would be another two years before Malhotra would really come into his own. While the designer gained recognition for his ensembles that Kajol wore in 1995’s it was that same year that Urmila Matondkar transformed into her brazen avatar courtesy of Malhotra and a Ram Gopal Verma film titled Rangeela.
Such was the impact of this classic that Filmfare Awards instituted a special trophy for Best Costume Design in a Film, which Malhotra took home with pride. Since then, it has been no looking back for the designer, be it Karisma Kapoor’s makeover in Raja Hindustani (1996) or Kareena Kapoor Khan’s glamorous turn as Pooja in (2001); Malhotra’s name has been synonymous with celebrities across generations, including the millennial poster child, Alia Bhatt.
Malhotra continues: “At the start of each year I think, there is so much of business in fashion, I will not do a film, but I always end up doing three to four films. When people see me, I think what they remember is all what I have singlehandedly done in movies. And today, I embrace it.”
SHOWSTOPPING FASHION
An independent fashion line seemed like a natural progression for Malhotra in the late ‘90s and the ambitious designer was not one to shy away from grabbing at opportunity.
“My first fashion show was in 1999 called Reverie organised by [industrialist] Yash and Avantika Birla in Mumbai. It was the first time the iconic Taj Hotel was allowing such a show to happen on its grounds,” he says.
“You know that I started this whole thing of showstoppers and front row in India? And now I am stamped with.”
He continues: “For me, [getting a showstopper] was never about getting the eyeballs. Back then, I had just done Rangeela with Urmila [Matondkar] and I Malhotra with Anushka Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan. Bhatt and With Alia Singh. Ranveer Jacqueline With and Fernandez Kapur. Aditya Roy With best friend Karan Johar. Fawad Khan and Deepika Padukone with the designer.