Fashion Friday Feature: Manish Malhotra
Welcome to #FashionFriday on Marigold Events! Today we are continuing our series of posts written by Gina Mathew, Founder of Couture Rani. These posts feature an Indian Fashion Designer, talking about how they got started in the industry, and their unique style. This week’s Featured Fashion Designer is Manish Malhotra.
Early Years
Manish Malhotra’s entry into the Indian fashion industry was very different from those of his designer peers. Although interested in fashion from a young age, he didn’t learn his craft in school. In fact, he began his career on the other side of the fashion business, as a model while still a student in college in Mumbai. Following graduation, he put his modeling career aside to start working at a small fashion boutique where he learned all aspects of design, production, sales and the ins and outs of the fashion business. As a huge fan of Hindi films, Malhotra always had Bollywood ambitions and his dream was to one day design clothes for Bollywood movies.
Bollywood Break
Malhotra’s big break came when he was asked to design several outfits for actress Juhi Chawla for her movie “Swarg.” But his career as a designer and a stylist was officially launched following his successful styling of Urmila Matondkar in the movie ‘Rangeela.” Malhotra revamped Urmila’s image from girl next door to sexy screen siren and in effect helped catapult her to super stardom. It was the first time that clothing was given any recognition in a Bollywood film and it had such a huge impact that he received Filmfare’s first Costume Design Award for Urmila’s look in “Rangeela.” The win also gave credibility to the idea of a “costume designer” and the importance of creating a “look” for a film and its characters. The success of “Rangeela” led him to work on other Bollywood blockbusters like “Raja Hindustani” and “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” while securing a huge fan following among Bollywood’s leading actresses. Since he first began, Malhotra has worked as a costume designer on over 70 Bollywood films.
Mainstream Success
Following his success in Bollywood, Malhotra decided to venture into the mainstream market by opening his own fashion boutique called “Reverie” which became a shopping hot spot for the cream of Mumbai society and helped his popularity soar as a designer. He soon began designing bridal trousseaus and slowly started developing his brand as a designer.
First Show
Malhotra’s highly anticipated first fashion show took place in November 1999 in front of a packed audience. He sold out his entire collection in three weeks. He also introduced the idea of having a “celebrity showstopper” by having actress Urmila Matondkar close his show, a practice still used by Indian designers today.
Launch of Label
Despite the enormous success of his collections, Manish Malhotra did not launch his independent label until 2004. He currently has two flagship stores, one in Mumbai and the other in Dubai.
Continued Success
Manish Malhotra is a rarity in Indian fashion as someone who has established himself as a successful mainstream fashion designer as well as a costume designer. It’s a delicate balance and an enormous feat to attempt both which would not be possible without the genuine passion that Malhotra has for his craft.
Check out our Facebook Page for more pictures from Manish Malhotra’s Collection.
Image Courtesy: FashionFad.in
Yeshna Ramrad says
… Awesome collections can i know if …. its on sale .
The Neha Dhawan says
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