Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla on designing for Bollywood celebs and being relevant even after more than 30 years

Fashion today is a bullet train shooting through different cultures, challenging gender norms, ousting traditions, colour palettes, and body codes. To stay relevant, an openness to the mardi gras of globalised tastes, seismic shifts and zeitgeists—and even social impact conversations recreating the landscape—is what a designer needs. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have witnessed it all in their journey creating couture out of a rich crafts-orientation. In their ateliers and lives, luxury is in the details, the choice of weaves, colours, textures and embellishments. Even their office is a rich testimony to their approach, filled with artistic mise-en-scène. And while their pan-Indian design vocabulary may not be on global fashion syllabi, it’s common knowledge that luxury houses today turn to India—like Dior tapping into the skills of underprivileged women empowered by the Chanakya School of Craft.

With the world’s attention giving Indian craftsmanship a wider platform, the couturiers share insights into the techniques that highlight each ensemble featured. Like the zardozi on the jacket made for Dame Judi Dench or the vibrant dress, they pulled out from the archives for Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ mehendi ceremony. Future generations may turn to AI to generate their dream bridal and festive ensembles, but here, we celebrate the momentous portraiture created by the passionate design impresarios. 

Brides Today: You’ve seen celebrities wearing your creations for the most precious occasions of their lives. When you look back at those memories, how do you feel? Did those ensembles often take shape in your mind looking at their personal attributes? 

Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla: We feel supremely blessed. Seeing such talented people choose our work is a feeling like no other. We are spontaneous creators. Some of our designs are inspired by the wearers’ unique traits, while others leap directly from our imagination. There are no maps or rulebooks to guide our journey. We tend to find ourselves walking on an ever-unfolding path. And this fills us with constant excitement. Fashion expresses who we are the moment we enter a room. It speaks before we do. And that is why the design should most fabulously express its wearer. 

BT: Over the years, as women have become busier, their style choices have moved towards more comfortable luxury. How have these changing preferences affected your designs? Do you try to make your ensembles weigh less than they would have decades ago?

AJSK: Our designs have always been true to a vision, and that vision is delivering the best we possibly can. The definition of what’s best evolves with time, but we take immense joy in giving women exactly what they want. Sometimes, it’s a heavily crafted garment and other times, it’s a lot lighter to wear. It depends entirely on what we’re aiming for. That being said, we don’t always consciously keep a garment’s weight in mind. Beautiful couture takes meticulous craftsmanship, and that can often lead to heavy garments. 

BT: How do you think the pandemic reshaped attitudes towards luxury? Do you believe in entering conversations around sustainable luxury—recycling, upcycling and empowering kaarigars?

AJSK: The pandemic reshaped collective consciousness in general. Staying in quarantine led us to reflect on the things that truly matter. As for luxury attitudes towards it will always be numerous. We began upcycling with our most illustrious clients far before it became trendy. For instance, Nita Ambani had her AJSK sari that was upcycled for an event in New York. And kaarigars are the backbone of any luxury fashion brand. The impact on them depends on the attitude people have towards luxury. Our Chikankari designs are handcrafted by a talented, all-women community in Lucknow. Our clients enable us to support them because their attitude towards luxury includes the preservation of cultural art forms.

BT: What major differences have you observed between making bespoke bridalwear, say, three 
decades ago and today?

AJSK: Be it 30 years ago or today, a bride is a bride. She knows how to immerse her individuality into her outfit. We often have requests for specific colours and silhouettes. Beyond that, we’re grateful to be trusted to an extent where the requests are minimal because our imagination is maximal. We made our first-ever bridal outfit for Reema Jain. All she asked was that her outfit be green. She left the rest to us, and we paired crushed silk with mirror work for her ensemble. We realise we’re rather immune to shifts because our approach to design has much to do with understanding the one we are creating for. This makes it a personal experience that goes far beyond categorising preferences of the past and present. 

BT: What new experiments have worked for your recent collections? 

AJSK: We love experimenting. It keeps our passion for the art alive. Recently, combining different embroidery techniques like gota and zardozi, or gota with resham and tikkis made quite a wave. Even Indo-western silhouettes and ombre embellishments were well received. Our creative satisfaction is ephemeral, and we constantly push ourselves because design is infinite. An endless number of colours, elements and techniques can be combined to create something new. It’s our life’s mission to constantly explore our creativity.

BT: Has there ever been a bride-to-be who had a truly different idea for her bridal lehenga?

AJSK: We recently embroidered a love poem for a bride’s lehenga. The sheer romance of that idea truly stood out for us. We’ve dressed so many brides, most of them experimental in their own unique way. Most brides approach us with a colour or silhouette preference, and they trust us with the rest. Some of them ask for designs seen on celebrities.