Malavikas Mumbaistan: Empress of Fashion | Bombay News

It's great to catch up with the unrivaled empress of the fashion world in her airy, artsy SoBo apartment over an early morning coffee. Even better, it was in both our joggers, our t-shirts and our undone faces. After all, fashion designer, costume designer, lifestyle consultant and creative director Anaita Adajania is to today's fashion world what SRK is to Bollywood or Taylor Swift to pop.

Styling mega stars and gigantic films; lead engaging editorial sessions; generate flash moments for international red carpet appearances; advising billionaire heiresses on their clothing choices for big-budget events and orchestrating dozens of advertising shoots. The fifty-year-old, mother of two children, married to director-producer Homi Adajania (Cocktail, Finding Fanny, Murder Mubarak, etc.) is a real industry in her own right. hers: one of the most sought-after and authoritative names in her field and an influencer with a Capital Eye.

So it's refreshing to see her in her undercover and off-duty avatar, waiting for her 2 assistants to arrive to report at 11 am to plan the hectic activities of the day ahead.

We're here to talk about the prodigious work and influence of Adajania, but also about Mumbai and its fashion foundations and how that may have influenced him and informed his approach and outlook.

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Ah Mumbai Fashion over the years: Bob Cuts and sleeveless blouses. The Air India look and the churidar kameezes designed by Pierre Cardin. Anne French, Leela Lace. Radical Chic and Jhola bags. Kendras cottage industries and looms. Colaba balls. Ritu Kumar and block printing. Bhanu Athaiya. Femina and Eves weekly. Jeannie Naoroji and Shanti Chopra. The opening of Ensemble. Abu Sandeep and The Anarkali are watching,

The liberalization of Manmohan Singh. Suneet Varma corsets worn as saree blouses. An open economy. Forex to travel and buy. Elle, Verve LV, Burberry, Mont Blanc, Chanel/Dior/Ferragamo.

CNN, BBC, Star TV, Bunty and Babli Kurtis. Manish Malhotras cocktail sarees; the track as a launching pad. Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen.

International airlines are opening up shop. Lakm Fashion Week. Stars and stars. Bombay Times and Page 3. Jeans, Ts and Breast Tubes Internet. Google. Broadband. Smart phones. Social networks

Mumbai fashion seeps into tier 3 and 4 cities

The proliferation of Indian television channels.

Giant Indian brands like Nykaa and West Side. Serious regional players.

Fast fashion: Zara, Mango, H&M.

Reliance and Aditya Birla in the fray.

Huge regional players without a brand. Fashion is the great equalizer.

30 years of economic growth

The Big Fat 5 – Indian Wedding event

5 events. 5 outfits. Shoes, bags, jewelry.

Brand name or bust. The bride and her group. Sleepovers of the groom and his brothers. Bollywood evening. Outfits for everyone.

Enter Sabya. Destination weddings. Resort clothing. Planners.

Single-use bling. Get confused. Fungible mode. Red carpet looks. Silver sequin capes. Red satin dresses. Scalloped mermaid style skirts with sheer ruffles, floral backless and deep V-neck. Transparent bodice, The twin coming of Orry and Urfi. Paparazzi. The airport looks like. Smart Caz evenings

A $130 billion deal.

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Adajania, the quintessential Mumbai girl, hailing from Colaba and graduating from Bombay International School and St Xaviers College, was born to stylish parents and a wealthy clan. (Tarun Tahiliani is said to have once affectionately described her as a Colaba girl who loves nothing more than a dress.

Her evolution to her current status as a style empress was influenced by stints in advertising (she worked at a film production company), modeling and Bollywood (a few roles in mainstream cinema), followed by stints as a fashion director several times. international fashion magazines like Elle LOfficiel and Vogue based in Mumbai. Alongside a handful of influential and visionary editors of these titles, she is responsible for guiding Indian fashion and style to its current look, although thankfully her approach has been refreshingly free from the influences of big Western brands , distinguished by timeless and contextual relevance. It is this unique sensitivity that sets her apart.

It's all in the mix, so she says if you see my work, it's always mixed. High end and low end, established designers with new, unknown talent. It’s about pushing new talents to establish themselves; for me, excitement is taking elements of brands that people don't even know they love yet, until I show them and then putting it all together. I like discovering new brands, new labels and a new atmosphere too. I always keep my eyes and ears open to see what's going on around me and I never think a brand is too big or too small to bring into the mix.

And would she say that growing up in avant-garde Mumbai has anything to do with this view?

I think more than growing up in Mumbai, it was growing up with the people who shaped my style and fashion. I have always borrowed from the people around me; my parents and grandparents were all very stylish in their own way. And also my friend: in a film for example, we find someone who looks exactly like my friend because I shamelessly borrowed his look to create a character. It's also something about the easy, laid-back, laid-back Mumbai style, which really suits who I am. I have a hard time dressing myself, says the lady who has handled more tulle ball gowns than you have had hot vada paos.

And that's why I'm happy to live in Mumbai. I appreciate this freedom. I think we are more eclectic and more individual in our style here. That's what I like about the city.

Anaita too, us too.