The magic of MANISH

FROM HIS FORAY INTO FILMS TO CONQUERING COUTURE, MANISH MALHOTRA TAKES US ON A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE, AS JANHVI KAPOOR PLAYS MUSE

- MANISH MALHOTRA: ANSHU KHANNA JANHVI KAPOOR: SHRADDHA CHOWDHURY

It is early evening in festive Delhi. The cold winds of winter are inching closer, as are the glittering big-ticket weddings that are ready to unveil their magic starting December. A graciously adorned, sprawling couture atelier in Delhi's Mehrauli Village is alive with action, every nook and corner of the space abuzz, as an army of merchandise assistants carefully attends to one pretty bride after another. They are helping them drape their delicately tasseled odhni, slip into an ornamental lehenga and get the gown look going.

Amid all this bustle is a handsome man, sporting an athleisure look of jeans and a sweatshirt teamed with a chic quilted jacket, a shiny silver leather satchel casually tossed over his back. Manish Malhotra, the couturier, is busy doing what he loves most: styling his brides into celestial divas, as dazzling as the many iconic looks he has created for the silver screen.

How do you define a legendary designer who has completed 31 years of his career? Who recently signed a much-revered merger with a retail giant and is raring to steer his label into a structured, corporate entity? Whose mantle at home is stashed with awards won for costuming in cinema? Whose myriad iconic looks in films have inspired not one but two generations, with many more to come? Who is as much at ease styling the stunning Janhvi Kapoor as he was her mother, the late Sridevi, his eternal muse?

The one word would be inimitable. But if you know the designer well, you would add a few more adjectives like humble, sharp, intuitive, progressive and highly aesthetic to describe him.

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