Manish Malhotra is running a high fever as he frantically flits about backstage at a Dubai hotel ballroom, his assistants trailing after him. There’s only a few hours left before his show, which has the who’s who of the UAE’s South Asian community on the guest list, and Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor as showstopper. Yet he’s on the phone with his people in Mumbai, coordinating Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s outfit for a performance and setting up a fitting appointment with Kareena Kapoor Khan, for as soon as he lands in Mumbai.
“This is too big for me,” he says, as he tries on a jacket from one of his designs. “See,” he turns to me with a deep sigh, sounding nasal due to the cold. “I am so busy thinking about everyone else, I forgot to think about what I’m going to wear.”
There’s more flitting around, cloth steamers being dragged about, the run-of-show referred to and dresses on hangers being arranged and then rearranged.
Then, about 30 minutes later, Malhotra is slightly more relaxed. His green tea arrives piping hot as he settles down on the sofa to talk.
“It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of early mornings and extra hours,” says the soft-spoken 49 year old. “But hey, that’s how I got here. So I don’t want to stop.”
Malhotra, one of the most successful names in Indian fashion today, marked 25 years in Bollywood costume designing this year. In those years, he’s styled and designed for more than 1,000 films, cementing his enormous clout in Bollywood — a relationship that has ensured he’s still on the top list of names for films as well as in the fashion industry.
But the focus now, he says, is on his eponymous label, which he launched 10 years ago. Next year, Dubai and London will be home to two flagship Manish Malhotra stores.
“Nine years ago, I set up my first-ever boutique in Dubai with the Belhasa Group, so this city is special to me,” he says. “It is a city I love. It’s a city where I find warmth and where the people are lovely and have been so supportive [of] what I do.”
The focus on his label, and the planned international outposts are all part of a larger plan that will see him evolve as a designer, he explains.
“I’m looking for more global influences. I’ve brought [to Dubai] a collection called The Empress Story, which I showed at India Couture Week in New Delhi recently. The collection takes a few steps ahead, introducing a lot of Western silhouettes like gowns. We also did a men’s show with lots of suits, which got an amazing response.”
A new focus on menswear is also part of the game plan, with the launch of a new line called Gentlemen’s Club.
“Ironically, when I started my career, I started dressing a lot of male actors, like Chunky Pandey and Sunny Deol. But I think it was the women I paid a lot more attention to because I knew my work would be noticed more if it was worn by women,” he recalls. “Also I’m talking about 25 years ago when men were not that interested in changing their looks and their hair. Fashion in films was very different then.
“I’ve done menswear sporadically and I introduced it in my collections about five years ago. But to do an exclusive menswear show where the girls became a backdrop and the guys were centre stage was a first for me. And it got a phenomenal response. So I guess more to come.”
While Bollywood now dictates a lot of the fashion trends, the wedding market in India is still a lucrative segment, says Malhotra.
“Weddings are where Indians spend, where it’s all about Indian couture. I love the opulence and grandeur,” he says. “That’s why, if you asked me if I preferred couture to pret, it would be couture. Because it comes organically to me. I love the shine, I love the glamour, I love the intricate embroidery. I love velvets and silks, and flowy chiffons and georgettes and tulles. So for me it’s a paradise. And I feel really happy that when there’s a wedding in the family that I am one of the names people think of.”
But doesn’t that stifle creativity in a way, I ask. Malhotra agrees, but adds that if you keep it real, and do it with integrity, it’s OK.
“For me fashion is not pretentious. Fashion is something to be enjoyed. It’s something you are, something you like to do. So your honesty towards that is very important,” he says. “I’ll never pretend to be or do anything that’s not organically me. So I don’t take away from something that is offbeat and different. Likewise I don’t take from something that is so out there. But that doesn’t mean it’s less creative. When you cater to the world out there, and you enhance the most important day of their lives. And you think of colour and of embroidery and cut, it’s amazing.”
The quarter of the century he’s been in fashion has helped him polish his business skills, he says.
“I would be lying if I said I have not [ become a better businessman]. I have learnt over the years. But if I had to choose work and passion over money, I would choose my work. And I have. Money can follow.
“I am constantly challenging myself. When something sells, sometimes it becomes a routine. So I have to constantly remind myself to change, to evolve to come up with something new. And that’s something I enjoy doing.”
While his first Dubai store had to shut shop after a few years, he says he is better prepared now.
“This time it’s all me,” he says with a smile. “It’s definitely not easy. Some international designers have companies which do everything for them and they only concentrate on design.
“But also as a person, I want to be always relevant. I want to connect to people out there. I want people to look at my clothes and say, ‘I could wear that’ or ‘I know someone who could wear that’. That relativity is very important.”
That’s why, despite his star-studded clientele, he says he’s never considered himself a major artist or a showman.
“I look at myself as someone who loves to do what he does,” he says. “When people wear my clothes and feel good about it, that is what gives me the most happiness.”
