‘WE HAVE BROKEN TABOOS AND MADE THE FORBIDDEN FASHIONABLE’

Celebrity Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla are at the forefront of a glittering
profession, having dressed such iconic illuminators as Amitabh
Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia, Nikhil Nanda, Madhuri Dixit and
Shahrukh Khan; with an additional international clientele of Dame’s
Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, Darecy Bussell and Sophie Marceau
among them, they have successfully fashioned the modern celebrity
to a level of euphoria associated with American politicians running
for congress.
Coined the boys by their contemporaries, Abu Jani and Sandeep
Khosla are the father fi gures of the fashion and fi lm circuit in India
now, and such associations and cultural endorsements among the
celebrity elite matters. It is the diff erence between designing and
dressing the nouveau riche, and fi lling the aspiring classes’ wardrobes’
with aff ordable clothing. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla’s collaborative
designs were originally launched as the creative line Mata Hari; that
modestly and very successfully introduced them to contemporary
Indian fashion. International recognition came later with the launch
of a range of shawls, under the brand name Shakira Caine that
was added to the merchandise at leading retailers, Harvey Nichols,
Neiamn Marcus, Harrods, London, and Bergdof Goodman, New
York. Such a level of success led in to their re-launching their fashion
label Jashan in 1989 at a ‘save the children’ charity fundraising event
in central London. Th e accolades followed, as they received awards
for the work on the 2002 fi lm Devdas. Th e fi lms followed; Khoon
Bhari Maang, Pyaar ka Saaya and Izzatdar. Such approval from the
fi lm industry spilled over into the fashion market and audiences and
critics alike lapped up their designs. Like the unbridled relationship
between Indian fi lm and song, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla’s success
can be drawn back to their working for Xerxes Bhathena, for whilst
there they lift ed their ambitions into the celebrity stratosphere.