Actors Taha Shah Badussha and Wamiqa Gabbi were styled by Pranay Jaitly and Shounak Amonkar for the Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla couture show
Celebrity stylists and founders of Who Wore What When, Pranay Jaitly and Shounak Amonkar, share with News18 the experience of designing their first couture show with Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla and the changes they would like to see in the fashion industry.
From watching an Abu Sandeep show for the first time in 2015 to styling the designer duo’s show, which also marked their couture debut, Pranay Jaitly and Shounak Amonkar, founders of fashion consultancy Who Wore What When, won hearts at India Couture Week 2024 in New Delhi.
Calling it “coming full circle”, Pranay shares with News18 the experience of working with Abu Sandeep, designing 120 garments for the show, styling the show-stopping looks for Wamiqa Gabbi and Taha Shah Badussha and the changes he would like to see in the fashion industry.
Tell us about your experience designing Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla’s show for India Couture Week 2024.
It feels like we have come full circle. The first show we saw when we came back from Milan in 2015 was an Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla show, which also took place in Delhi. Right now, we designed our first ASAL and Mard couture show by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, so the experience will stay with us forever. It was wonderful, we had 120 pieces on the runway, two celebrities and a bunch of lovely models and the OGs were there. The energy was fabulous.
What was it like working with Abu Sandeep?
Working with Abu Sandeep has always been a pleasure. They are wonderful people and always open to ideas. The best thing is that they themselves take the time to sit down and chat and hold multiple discussions and meetings until we all agree on something, such as what we think will do justice to the collection we are photographing or the pieces we are working with. And that is what we really like about them.
If you had to define the collection and how it resonated with your style aesthetic, how would you describe it?
Rani aur Raj Kumar, the ASAL and MARD collection by Abu Sandeep, actually defines what clothing is for us as well. It's how we like to see clothes, the heritage, the embroidery and the colours. It's very true to our Indian heritage and bridal wear. The bright colours, the fabrics, the contrast of the embroidery. It's beautiful, right? It kind of aligns with our style aesthetic because we always tend to go back to the classics and add a bit of the modern and that's exactly what this collection was as well.
Styling for a haute couture show involves many challenges until the final model walks down the runway. Was there a moment during the show that made you nervous?
The fact that it was our first couture show made us nervous. We were ambitious and wanted to do multiple hairstyle changes on the runway and we managed to do that in the limited time we had. The good thing was that there were over 80 models walking the runway, so there were fewer repeat models and that helped us a lot in styling each of the models before they walked the runway.
The last section was hectic for us, it was when the bridal lehengas were shown on the runway and all the models had one change and the second change of their bridal lehengas. [looks] We had dupattas, veils and curtains. So it was very important for us to make sure that everything was in place and that no curtain moved or pins came open or the dupatta fell down. I am glad that everything turned out well.
It was quite an elaborate show with intricate designs and jewelry. What were your favorite pieces from the collection that you loved designing?
I really enjoyed the pieces I styled. Many of them were special to me. The white lehenga with pearl blouse that Wamiq Gabbi wore to open the show was special to me. Together with Abu and Sandeep sir, we came up with the idea of using the pearl cap as a hoodie, which was a Wamiqa accessory.
We didn't want her to wear jewelry as an accessory. This pearl hoodie turned out to be something that complemented the look very well. The last look that Carol Gracias wore on the catwalk was a stunning look. She carried it with great grace. Taha [Shah Badussha] The entry showing the multiple birds on his kurta was something we really enjoyed.
Besides the clothes, it's also the choreography, the music and the styling that brings everything together. How different is the experience off the catwalk?
Working behind the catwalk and having to organise everything else on the day of the show is definitely different. We were involved in the whole process, from filming the campaign to listening to the music. [composed by Akshay Raheja and IP Singh]Once it was ready. Sandeep Sir was very kind to let us participate, to let us help do the Spotify album artwork. From us to being a part of the rehearsals. Abu was very kind to accept our suggestions. It's the teamwork that really brings everything together. We are so glad we got to work with such brilliant people who really knew what they were doing.
Styling as an industry has evolved over the years, what changes have you seen in fashion and what changes would you like to see in the future?
Styling as an industry has definitely evolved over the years. We're very new to this, we're not even a decade old, but we're lucky to have done everything we've done. To have met the kind of people we know. What I think has changed is the presence of styling and the work that's posted on social media.
I think what I would like to see change is the accessibility of brands to talented actors. Over the years, we have faced this problem with many of our clients, who have been refused clothing by some designers because they are not conventional film actors.
