There’s always something new happening in Mumbai. And when it’s sweet and delicious like cupcakes and macarons and green like forests, the only way to describe it is by saying, “You’re doing amazing, sweet and green Mumbai!” like Kris Jenner would. Except Jenner had said “You’re doing amazing sweetie” to her daughter Kim Kardashian posing for a Playboy magazine shoot, circa 2007 – a cult sentence in pop culture since.
MUMBAI: New York’s Magnolia Bakery is finally opening in Bandra, Mumbai on November 1st, 2023, five years after marking its sweet presence in India. Magnolia first opened in Bangalore in November 2019, expanding to four locations in the city since, and opened its fifth outpost in Hyderabad in November 2022. The first Magnolia Bakery was opened by Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey in New York in 1996, but went on to change a few hands in its ownership over the years. Magnolia Bakery’s delicious cupcakes and frosted desserts became so popular that it started the cupcake craze in the 90s, with starring pop cultural mentions in the hit television series, Sex And The City and the film, The Devil Wears Prada, and many other film and television shows. The mention of the bakery on an episode of Sex And The City gave it immediate fame, so much so that it became a tour bus stop in New York. Magnolia’s first outpost outside the US was opened in Dubai in 2010, followed by one in Abu Dhabi in the UAE and in countries like Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and of course, India. Since 2021, Magnolia is owned by a private equity firm co-founded by Hudson Yards developer, Stephen Ross. I have only ever had Magnolia in New York, so bring on the deliciousness!
MUMBAI: The 161-year-old French patisserie, Ladurée Paris is also opening in Mumbai at the Jio World Plaza Mall in November, around Diwali, to make the festivities in the city even sweeter. Headquartered in Paris, France, Ladurée is an ambassador of Parisian macarons with their exquisite pastry art. Ladurée Paris first opened in India about two years ago in New Delhi’s Khan Market in September 2021. In 1862, Louis-Ernest Ladurée opened a bakery called Maison Ladurée in La Madeleine, but had to reinvent it as a pastry shop following a fire in the Paris Commune uprising in 1871. The Parisian macaron, as we know it today, was created by Parisian pastry chef, Pierre Desfontaines, second cousin of the creator of Maison Ladurée, who had the ingenious idea of assembling two macaron shells, with a tasty ganache. And voila, the beloved double decker macaron came into existence. It is said that 15000 Ladurée macarons are sold everyday around the world, and the sales in Mumbai will definitely add to that count. 2023 is the year Ladurée celebrates and honours Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, also known as Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, with a macaron called Eugénie. Can’t wait to try the Eugénie macaron with a crunchy biscuit and a melting centre coated in chocolate, and my forever favourite, the Barre Chocolat.
Laduree’s Barre Chocolat photographed by Rubina A Khan
MUMBAI: The Indian Hotels Company Limited opened a new hotel in Mumbai, Taj The Trees, in Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli on September 19th, 2023. Spread over eight acres in the eastern suburb of Vikhroli along the Eastern Express Highway, Taj The Trees has views of the Mangrove Forest on one end and a Sculpture Park on the other. The hotel has 140 rooms and 11 suites, a spa and wellness centre with an infinity pool and 3 restaurants – Shamiana, Nonya and a rooftop bar on the 12th floor, The Mangrove Bar. Taj The Trees is the coming together of two of India’s greatest business legacies for the first time – the Tata Group and the Godrej Group. The hotel is owned by Godrej Properties and is managed by the Indian Hotel Companies as a luxury Taj hotel. Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairperson at Godrej Properties said, “We are happy to open our first hotel, Taj The Trees, in partnership with the Tata Group, as we aim to deliver quality and sustainable luxury in a green, connected, and vibrant neighbourhood.” The green mangrove trees and the languid shoreline make for great visuals in a city where the skyline is dominated with concrete towers and buildings. It remains to be seen what kind of efforts and policies have been adopted and adapted by IHCL towards making this a green forward hotel, aside from glass water bottles and linen changes that are the bare minimum in every luxury hotel worldwide. Taj The Trees is quite a tongue-twister, so T3 is what I think it will soon be called, not to be mistaken as a new airport terminal in Mumbai though. Along with the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Wellington Mews, Taj Land’s End and Taj Santacruz, Taj The Trees is the fifth hotel under the Taj brand to open in Mumbai.
It is rather unimaginable to think of Mumbai as green, where grey concrete is a defining colour, but the idea of waking up to verdant forest views feels calming and energising.
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Pop culture artists in the West have been wearing Indian couturier Gaurav Gupta’s future primitive phantasia collections on the most famous red carpets in the world – Cannes, Time 100 Gala, Billboards, the Oscars and of course the Grammys for the larger part of the past year. Mary J Blige wore him to the Time 100 Gala in 2022, Megan Thee Stallion wore him to the 94th Oscars in Hollywood, Maluma to the Latin Billboard Awards 2022 in Miami, Lizzo, Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue, Bebe Rexha, Luis Fonsi, Ashanti, Thalia, Saweetie – the names read like a veritable Grammy nomination list! And 2023 is looking even better with the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode Paris (FHCM) inviting him to the Paris haute couture calendar, where he showcased Shunya, his SS23 debut showing at Paris Haute Couture Week at the Palais de Tokyo on Republic Day. The collection has the world lauding his genius that’s intrinsically Indian, yet imaginatively international in style and spirit.
Gaurav Gupta at his atelier in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
On music’s biggest night on February 5th, the Central Saint Martin’s alumnus’ name was etched permanently in the couture halls of fame worldwide, with Cardi B wearing an electric blue creation straight off his Paris Haute Couture Week runway, from his Shunya collection, at the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The gown that electrified the world has its own identity and name since its outing at the Grammys – it’s called the Cardi Blue. And Cardi’s no stranger to Gupta’s indigenous sculpting genius – she wore an ivory ensemble by him, representative of air that lent a cosmic flair to her character standing in a field of roses in her No Love video in 2022.
Cardi B wearing Gaurav Gupta at the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, USA.
Gupta is undeniably the Indian king of couture artistry today, dressing up pop royals and culturati around the world. Rock stars, pop stars, indie and underground artists in the West introduce and dictate fashion and trends in a way that’s incomparable to the impact of Hollywood stars. Of course the reverse is true for India where fashion is dominated by Bollywood stars and Gupta has dressed every major celebrity in India, the most recent international outing being Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan on the Cannes red carpet in 2022.
“I’m finally home – I was always meant to do this,” says Gupta of the worldwide blitzkrieg around him, and about him. “I have always been a conceptual couture mind and I resonate with my education at Central Saint Martin’s in London very well where I unlearnt to learn. Thirty kids from around the world are picked every year at CSM and I was one of them. My experiences in establishing and owning my label in India since 2004, with my brother Saurabh as co-director in our company, and the love and support my 350-strong team and I have earned over the years have led me to these moments. It was very difficult in the early years to find a balance between conceptualism and commercial viability as we don’t follow any rules, but I stuck to my beliefs and the brand’s aesthetic of future primitive fantasy.”
Gaurav Gupta at his atelier in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
Indeed, all the world is but a red carpet for Gupta and his non-conformist artistry. Given Gupta comes from a family that owns a steel business, he definitely knows a thing or two about running numbers, despite his artistic bent of mind. He has a well-thought out plan for his expansion in the West, that he kicked off with the very successful cultural collaborations, following it up with Neiman Marcus in the US and Moda Operandi, also in the US, carrying his label. Alongside his e-tail business, Gupta has brick and mortar stores in Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata, with his Mumbai store in Kala Ghoda re-opening after a redesign on March 3rd. And when will his MET Gala red carpet moment happen? “Everything has a time and place and it will happen soon.”
DELHI, INDIA – NOVEMBER 05: Couturier Gaurav Gupta works with his tailors and embroiderers at his newly-opened five-storied atelier on November 05, 2022 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
Gupta’s international success is a first for an Indian designer on the fashion landscape and he’s changed the couture game in India a second time around, the first being when he transformed couture as a concept for Indian brides that were tied to conservative traditions when he launched his label in 2004. Indian brides started wearing him at a time when only saris and lehengas were considered bridal wear; anything else was just rebellion and anarchy against the cultural traditions of the country. But through his meticulously crafted flamboyant flights of fantasy in cloth, albeit in subdued palettes and nude illusions with some colour thrown in, Gupta, with his unwavering perseverance, brought about a radical change in the way couture was viewed and worn in India, especially at Indian weddings. Today, his contemporary garments are a must on every bride’s wedding wish-list.
“I have noticed that we are driving a non-conformist culture which is abstract, yet liberating at the same time. We nurtured this notion in the country when brides were only wearing traditional clothes, but now brides of all nationalities wear our cultural couture for their weddings. Our white wedding gown is extremely popular with African girls. What is exciting for me is not the gown, but the aesthetic that a woman is like art and she’s wearing live art on the most important day of her life. She’s breaking convention by not wearing what her mother or her sister or her aunt wore. She is celebrating the fantasy of life. I invented the sari gown which is now a staple in every designer’s collection. We pioneered a movement of a new Indian wear culture with our futuristic, contemporary aesthetic, and we make lehengas and saris our way. I like to play around with pre-conceived definitions and redefine them in my own way. I am excited when I can tickle people’s brains with the new fantasies I create – I don’t live for the applause – I live for the gasps of excitement, the goosebump moments. I love sub-cultures and new cultures and that’s really what drives me.”
Maluma | Latin Billboards 2022Mary J Blige | Time 100 Gala 2022Megan Thee Stallion | Oscars 2022SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — Aubrey Plaza, Sam Smith Episode 1836 — Pictured: (l-r) Sharon Stone and Musical guest Sam Smith perform Gloria on Saturday, January 21, 2023 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)
The Delhi-raised Gupta believes that the celebrities who wear his label in the West get attracted to the brand organically. “Everyone who has worn us are all icons and pop culturists in all facets of their lives. Their voices resonate with us and when one is a true artist, the attraction is infinite. I mean Mary J Blige, Maluma, Lizzo, Cardi B, Sharon Stone – they are icons who have changed the world with their individualism and voices. And Sharon Stone wearing our golden gown was live art in the SNL bit with Sam Smith and the choir singing around her! And Paris couldn’t have happened at a better time for me. The love for Shunya has been incredible!”
Relieved is how Gupta feels today, having realised a long cherished dream with his Paris Haute Couture Week SS23 showing in January. “I have been waiting to make this moment happen and I have been ready for it for a while. To be invited by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode for the 2023 couture calendar is just incredible. Couture culture and the thought process of geniuses makes sense to me. I don’t work with references, time or place but the Paris crew delivered exactly what I wanted for Shunya. Their reverence for my vision was wonderful. I wanted a new hair style for the models because the last new hair that is in my sub-conscious memory is that of Alexander McQueen’s show more than a decade ago. The show’s soundtrack was an original that comprised of the tabla, cello, tribal sounds with an electronic overlay that was specially composed for the show by producers Gaurav Raina aka Grain and Curtain Blue.”
PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 26: A model walks the runway during the Gaurav Gupta Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 26, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Gupta is a firm believer in humanitarian acts and is of the opinion that “every public figure should have a humanitarian outlook and talk about justice.” Having met Nelson Mandela when he was a youngster, he tries to bring about active change in his personal and professional life. “The Shunya show had trans models, African models, curvaceous girls – couture shows don’t do that. Togetherness and love is infinite and the image of two models walking down the runway, conjoined by the dress is an image that will stick for years to come. Zinnia, the Indian model, is an anthropologist off the runway and there is so much more to her and the other models than just the physical representations. Shunya was truly an international show. Honestly, in the last 18 years I’ve never been as satisfied with my work as I’ve been with Shunya and working with all these people. It’s wild to hear the Chinese and Russians discussing Shunya and my infinity theme that stemmed from the discovery of zero by an Indian, Aryabhatta.”
From introducing his definitive couture voice to resistant Indians, he’s taken Indian couture that is made in India, by Indians, to the world. His non-conformist expressions with fabric and form on the human body are being lionized globally. Indians have always flaunted Western labels, and now, Americans, Albanians, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Africans, Australians, Mexicans – people of all nationalities are wearing an Indian couturier with pride on the biggest nights of their lives. Just by standing his ground on his aesthetic of couture, Gupta gave himself to the world in a manner most authentic, and he’s being seen and heard exactly for who he is as a couture artist.
Gupta credits his supportive family for his rise from zero to the infinite possibilities in the world, echoing the theme of his Shunya collection which was all about a zero turning into infinity with a little shake. “I am surrounded by angels in my life – my parents, my brother Saurabh and Navkirat, my soulmate who I live with and all my friends that I meet along my path and my team. My parents and Saurabh have played a very big role in my life as they support all that I want to do. I am full of gratitude for every one that is in my life. Had it not been for Saurabh, I would still be working in Istanbul today, where I was headhunted straight after CSM! This is just the beginning for us – from here to infinity!”
This feature first appeared in Rolling Stone on February 23rd, 2023
India’s couturier extraordinaire, Sabyasachi’s nonpareil fashion métier makes him an exalted being in the world of fashion. Today, the enviable designer ceases to be just about khaki, silks, embroidery, jewellery and his L’Oréal Paris x Sabyasachi Calcutta (a non-negotiable term when it came to his historic collaboration) makeup line. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, of the eponymous label Sabyasachi, is a vibe, and a very desired one at that.
From Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma and cricketer Virat Kohli’s wedding in Tuscany in 2017 to Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s ceremonies in Lake Como in 2018 to Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas’ coupling in Jodhpur in 2018 to the Ambani twins – Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal in Udaipur in 2018 to Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta in Mumbai in 2019, the fashion artistry at all these extravagant weddings was designed and orchestrated by Sabyasachi. In a country where bridal wear, our equivalent of the West’s haute couture, is of supreme importance when it comes to the big spend, all these celebrated brides and grooms from diverse worlds of film, sport, music and business wanted Sabyasachi to “do” their clothes and jewellery on their big day. And that’s saying a lot because there certainly is no dearth of designers doing bridal collections in India. For someone who is on a no-sugar health plan, he sure is taking the biggest bite from giant wedding laddoos, India’s sweetest business!
NEW DELHI, INDIA – MARCH 05: Indian fashion designer and couturier extraordinaire, Sabyasachi, opened his first flagship store in the capital, and his fourth in the country, spread over 13,500 square feet with two separate wings housing bespoke bridal wear, jewellery and accessories for women and men at Kutub Serai, Mehrauli on March 5, 2016 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)
Sabyasachi celebrates 20 years of his fashion story this year, with Kashgaar Bazaar – a runway presentation, in collaboration with the world’s most famous red-soled cobbler, Christian Louboutin on April 6th in Mumbai. The fashion extravaganza has international guests flying down especially for it and it’s already blowing up everyone’s minds with expectations of Sabyasachi’s grandiloquent style. Mumbai’s temperatures are soaring, but the anticipation of what Sabyasachi’s bringing to the city in April is taking it to another level of fashion heat!
Pharrell Williams makes the world a very happy place with his music, but he wants to make it happier with his fashion and design aesthete with a colourful collection for Parisian fashion house, Chanel. Williams is the first ever guest designer for the fashion house, having collaborated on it with the late Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s creative director for 36 years. It was Lagerfeld who named the collection Chanel Pharrell.
To coincide with the launch at Chanel’s flagship in Seoul, Korea on Friday, March 29, the Grammy winning artiste released a behind-the-scenes video of the collection. In it, the multihyphenate talks about gender-fluidity, meeting Karl Lagerfeld and the importance and influence of the number 5 in the collection as well as Akira and motorcycle gangs.
PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 05: A model walks the runway during the Chanel show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2019/2020 on March 5, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images)
Yellow bathrobes, brightly-colored hoodies and embroidered graffiti sweatshirts, terry-cloth bucket hats, sunglasses, T-shirts, opulent diamond jewellery and the double C bags make up the Chanel Pharrell collection, dedicated to both men and women. And, sneakers with hand-drawn text and doodles, but of course, and loafers and sliders. After the Seoul launch, the complete Chanel Pharrell collection releases worldwide on April 4.
A very fashionably yours April indeed!
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Fashion’s boldest bodies and brains know how to work the fiery haute month of May, especially on the French Riviera. The 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France is on fire, the summer temperatures notwithstanding, with beautiful and glamorous women walking the red carpet in breathtaking couture and bespoke jewels at the world’s biggest playground for photo-ops. Cannes is truly all about women, with men in tuxes running behind them, holding up their dresses and patting and settling them down to picture perfection. And what’s the most photographed fashion parade in the world without a wardrobe malfunction, inadvertent or otherwise? Day one saw Bella Hadid in a champagne Alexandre Vauthier gown with an underwear flash that was blinding. Eating an icecream cone in the gown after her red carpet strut, cemented Hadid’s nonchalance at the gaffe, that seemed more designed, than accidental. The red silk “barely there” gown, by Vauthier again, that she carried off so elegantly on the red carpet last year, clung on to her like second skin, with no slip up. That’s the reason Hadid stole the show primarily because nothing happened to the dress that everyone thought, or was hoping rather, would fall off her, and it pushed the fledgling model’s career forward the way it was orchestrated to. Just like this year’s “malfunction”.
Bollywood’s most poised actor, Deepika Padukone made an absolutely stunning debut at Cannes this year as part of L’oreal’s international glam girl squad. On opening gala night, Padukone looked fresh and completely at ease as she worked the red carpet statuesquely in a jewel-toned Marchesa gown with a seductive glimpse of her derrière and legs through the sheer of the fabric, for the screening of Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantomes d’Ismael). The following day, she wore a dark green Brandon Maxwell one-shoulder gown with a thigh-high slitfor Loveless (Nelyubov) and Wonderstruck. With bold green eye makeup, green velvet heels, and her hair in an updo, it was impossible not to love her chic style, despite being head-to-toe in one solid colour.
Bella Hadid attends the Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantomes d’Ismael) screening and Opening Gala during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2017 in Cannes, France
Deepika Padukone attends the ‘Nelyobov (Loveless)’ screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 18, 2017 in Cannes, France
Deepika Padukone attends the ‘Nelyobov (Loveless)’ screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 18, 2017 in Cannes, France
Deepika Padukone attends the Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantomes d’Ismael) screening and Opening Gala during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2017 in Cannes, France
Deepika Padukone attends the Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantomes d’Ismael) screening and Opening Gala during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2017 in Cannes, France
Cannes’ most beautiful habit for the last fifteen years, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan seems to have gotten her fashion game on this time around. She pleased everyone, well almost, as she walked the red carpet in an icy blue Michael Cinco ball gown from his Impalpable Dream of Versailles collection, looking effortlessly flawless! But interestingly, about two weeks ago, Cinco, a Dubai based designer with an atelier in the Dubai Design District, was in fittings with the Swarovski heiress and singer, Victoria Swarovski for the same dress in the exact same colour, so it wasn’t exactly a couture debut on the Bollywood star. Though, Bachchan took Cinco’s creation from mere princess level to Disney queen, if there ever was one in the fairytale kingdom of dreams. Her daughter Aaradhya must have loved seeing her looking like a beautiful Elsa in the ball gown. Bachchan was definitely in a royal state of mind given her wardrobe choices thereafter, with her engine red Ralph & Russo gown on day four of the fest. It was just another red dress with frills and stones, with a clumsy fit on the sides, sans any custom couture attributes, aside from the famous face wearing it.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attends the ‘Okja’ screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2017 in Cannes, France
attends the “120 Beats Per Minute (120 Battements Par Minute)” screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2017 in Cannes, France.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attends the ‘Okja’ screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2017 in Cannes, France
While in New York, Fern Mallis the award-winning creator and organiser of New York Fashion Week and now a Director of the Fashion Institute of Technology Foundation, interviewed Paris based shoe designer, Christian Louboutin. The conversation took place at the prestigious 92nd Street Y on Wednesday, May 17th, for her Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis ticketed series. Needless to add, it was a sold out event that was live streamed as it always is, for those who want to listen in. This conversation will undoubtedly find its place in Mallis’ second edition of her first book, Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis, published by Rizzoli in April 2015. It was a marvellous interaction between Mallis and the shoes designer of Egyptian and Lebanese descent, wherein he talked about his soul, and his famous red soles.
Christian Louboutin and Fern Mallis | Photo: Michael Priest Photography
Expelled from school at age 16, Louboutin went to work as an intern at the famed Parisian cabaret Folies Bergère and did odd jobs for the dancers, but the one that fulfilled his dream was making shoes for them, he told Mallis. “I was all about shoes; I was not about fashion. I had cinema and music but not fashion. When I first started I wanted to design shoes for showgirls. But it was a very good way to learn about shoes because for showgirls, they’re very important. They have very little costumes in general, so shoes are a strength, a weapon, a posture,” he said. He was curious why all the dancers ate veal carpaccio, and he was told by them, “You’re so stupid. We’re not eating it. We’re putting it in the shoes,” rolling it up for cushioning, explained Louboutin.
Christian Louboutin and Fern Mallis | Photo: Michael Priest Photography
At 18, an interview at Christian Dior led him to an internship with Charles Jourdan in the early 80s, wherein he learnt about the business of shoes, followed by design stints at Yves St Laurent, Chanel and Maud Frizon. Along with two of his friends, he opened the first store in Paris in October 1991, with $150,000, including the price of the lease. Louboutin found the inspiration for his trademark red soles in 1993 in red nail paint. The inspiration he describes as “a courtesan living out her life in a circus” turned his surrealistically beautiful shoes into an international success story. Known for his sky-high heels, he thinks flat shoes can be sexy, as proven by the legendary French actress Brigitte Bardot. He went on to tell Mallis that his “Love” flats were created after he saw a photo of Prince Charles staring at Princess Diana’s size 42 shoes.
Today Louboutin also has his own beauty line of nail polishes and lipsticks. “You have to give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. The red sole, which is my trademark and a sign of my ambition, started with the nail polish. It’s nice to remember in your flesh exactly where you started,” he said.
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Rubina A Khan 