Manish Malhotra is an Indian fashion designer, couturier, costume stylist, entrepreneur, filmmaker, revivalist based in Mumbai, India. The founder of the eponymous label, Manish Malhotra, he has been deeply entrenched in the twin worlds of fashion and film for the past three decades.

Early Life

Manish Malhotra was born into a Punjabi family in Mumbai, India. He studied at Sacred Heart Boys High School in Mumbai. At the age of 19, while studying arts at Elphinstone College in Mumbai, she did a few modelling gigs in ad campaigns for brands like Fu's, Weekender, Frutti and Goldspot. She then joined a boutique called Equinox in Bandra, where she spent her time sketching and draping dolls for a year. In 1987, he hired two tailors and began taking orders for customized clothing from her home. In 1989, he styled actress Divya Bharti in a song sequence for a film by David Dhawan, but the film was never released. She made her debut in the Hindi film industry as a costume stylist in 1990.

Career

Malhotra made his costume designing debut with the film Swarg (1990), starring Rajesh Khanna, Govinda and Juhi Chawla. The same year, he was hired by Sridevi to style her photoshoot looks. In 1993, he designed a complete look for the late Sridevi's character in Mahesh Bhatt's Gumrah. After the shooting of the Telugu thriller Govinda Govinda (1994), Ram Gopal Varma hired him for the costumes of Rangeela (1995). The film led Filmfare to introduce a new award category for costume designing, the Filmfare Award for Best Costume Design, with Malhotra being its first recipient.

Malhotra was credited for his modern and minimal yet impactful costume styling - be it the chiffon sarees in "Hai Rama”, the tangerine skater dress and the printed dress on a white base in "Tanha Tanha", the pleated skirts and boyfriend shorts in "Rangeela Re", or the Chaplinesque look in "Kya Kare Kya Na Kare". The casual style of Urmila Matondkar, who played the film's central protagonist - from co-ords, skater dresses, leotards with scarves to oversized shirts, high-waist jeans with figure-hugging tees, and wool berets - were noted to be one of the main talking points of the film.

In 1997, Malhotra worked on Yash Raj Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) where he designed stylish athleisure wear, sheer traditional outfits, and minimal styling to Hindi Cinema. For the costumes of Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), he won 7 individual category awards for the casual to bridal looks he created. In 1999, Karan Johar hired him again to style Kareena Kapoor's look in the family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001).

In 2001, Malhotra won his first IIFA Award for Best Costume Design for his work in Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein. In 2003, Malhotra styled Johar's Kal Ho Naa Ho, a romantic comedy-drama based on NRI's living in New York City. Preity Zinta's statement pieces included scarves, trench coats, halter dresses (including the now-iconic red one from "Kuch Toh Hua Hai"), sweaters, slip dresses, flared pants, and one-shoulder dresses - all relevant to the era and character. Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan's embroidered kurtas and Zinta's blue "Maahi Ve" lehenga, and Jaya Bachchan's makeover look, which including jeans, sweaters, sweatshirts and long trench and overcoats also received acclaim.

The same year, he designed the wedding outfits for Karishma Kapoor subsequently leading to inquiries from high-profile clientele like the Raheja Builders and many more.

In 2004, Malhotra styled Sushmita Sen in Farah Khan's Main Hoon Na in flowy chiffon sarees, vibrant colors, and prints. In 2006, Johar once again reached out to Malhotra to style the entire cast of his ensemble musical romantic drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Malhotra received universal acclaim for his styling in the film - right from Shah Rukh Khan's preppy athleisure wear, Rani Mukherji's chiffon sarees, halter blouses and trench coats, Abhishek Bachchan's working guy formal wear, Preity Zinta's chic fashionista skirts, scarves, tops and dresses, Amitabh Bachchan's classic suits to Kirron Kher's homely long skirts, sweaters, stoles and kurtas.

In 2007, Malhotra styled Kareena Kapoor's character, Geet in the film Jab We Met. The film saw the rise of harem pants paired with long t-shirts, phulkari scarves, corset tops (with the popular red skirt), and hoop earrings with short kurtas.

In 2008, Malhotra was widely praised for Priyanka Chopra's look in the film Dostana. Based in Miami. the vibe of the film was cool chic, and so were the costumes. It saw her in the iconic shimmering golden swimsuit, and her classic silver saree with a sensuous blouse from the song "Desi Girl" launched many versions of the same.

In 2013, Malhotra styled and designed the look for Deepika Padukone's character, Naina Talwar, in Ayan Mukerji's Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. The electric blue saree with a black shimmer blouse, her form-fitting kurtas with plunging necklines, low waist lehengas with short blouses, or floral dresses paired with sweaters and denim jackets.

His body of work of over 1000 films and designing innumerable looks for actors including Rekha, Sridevi, Raveena Tandon, Kajol, Sushmita Sen to the generation of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Ananya Pandey, and many others, Malhotra has been telling stories through all his creations for three decades now.

Manish Malhotra was a judge panellist in the reality show Myntra Fashion Superstar which hunts India’s next big fashion influencer on the Myntra App. Malhotra was bestowed with the Filmfare Award for 30 years of outstanding contribution to Bollywood fashion.