Fashion

Mumbai Fashion: Three Top Designers Who Have Had a Major Impact

What we wear says a lot about our personality and style. 

Sometimes we choose garments for practicality, but more often than not, it shares a piece of us to strangers. We want to celebrate all different styles and designers and keep inspiring your wardrobe changes. Let’s take a look at Mumbai fashion – including what it is and some famous designers from the other side of the world.

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Credit: Commons Wikimedia


What Does Mumbai Fashion Look Like? 

Mumbai offers solace to people all over India, and even tourists from around the world. The fashion community is expanding overseas. Now, we’re beginning to become a global sensation. The weather is often hot and humid, so Mumbai fashion is based off of practicality too. Although, when using public transport, residents avoid wearing shorts which might expose too much skin. The nature of Mumbai fashion is highly respected.

Everyday Fashion 

For an everyday look, opt for a sleeveless shirt dress which reaches just above the knee. This is a great look for a hot day because it keeps you cool, especially if you opt for a light shade. Play around with brightening up the look in the summer with bright accessories. This might include an oversized handbag, a red lip, or sunglasses. Sandals work well. However, make sure you have a pair of waterproof flats for raining days. A huge part of Mumbai fashion is chunky jewellery. As a result, you can opt for ethnic earrings, a large watch or chunky bangles on both arms for an Indian touch.

Work Attire 

Dresses are a staple garment in the workplace with a relaxing feel and elements of western clothing. Kurtas aren’t worn alone though. They work best with bottoms similar to leggings which have an edgy bottom at the ankle. This is one of the most popular workplace outfits in India because it’s respectful, ethnic and practical. Avoid stilettos or shoes with a high heel, as they’re not proper office etiquette. Instead, stick with flats, sandals or wedges with a short platform heel. The footwear is influenced by regularly standing up on public transport for comfort. Also, Mumbai roads are often bumpy, so you want to get around without hurting your feet.

What Influences Mumbai Fashion? 

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Credit: Wikimedia Commons

India’s fashion style displays a mix of Western fashions and ethnic dynamics. The garments, colours and decorations people wear expresses their Indian identity. As a result, in recent years, Mumbai fashion has displayed unique characteristics as people dress more like their personality and tastes. There’s no doubt that the style contains a combination of traditional and modern temperaments. This is partially down to Indian fashion designers expanding the market and breaking the norms.

The popularity of Bollywood movies and increased appearance of Indian families on screen has evolved the culture beyond solely India. The high demand of Bollywood movies has created a high demand for Mumbai fashion worn on the screen. Before reaching popularity, Western-style clothing heavily influenced Mumbai fashion.

What was once considered as out-of-date and only cultural fashion, has blurred lines around the world. Many fashion designers have made a huge impact in the present-day Mumbai fashion. The power of celebrities, branding and positive associations continued to influence this fashion style, as well as endorsements.


Mumbai Fashion Designers To Follow

From legendary designers to emerging talents, there are an array of designers leaving footprints in Mumbai fashion. Essentially, fashion development all stems from individuals with creativity and bravery to think outside the box. Let’s take a look at three of our favourite designers. Each point includes a detailed analysis of what makes their style unique.

1. Tarun Tahiliani

Tarun Tahiliani is one of the most famous Mumbai fashion designers. His popularity came from Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty regularly wearing his designs. He’s been working hard for many years. In 2003, the Milan Fashion Week invited him to showcase his designs and collections. It’d be a challenge to mention his name in Mumbai and people not recognize it.

A degree in Business Management from the University of Pennsylvania helped Tahiliani to create and manage his design studio in 1995. Once returning to India after his studies, he recognized a gap in the market for a multi-designer boutique. As a result, Ensemble came onto the scene. This boutique became the first luxury store to provide designers a platform to showcase their work too.

His designs are a combination of sophistication and elegance and each piece showcases couture at its finest. Many praise his talent and ability to mold contemporary designs and culture with modern influences. The Western inspiration is at the core of his designs. Although, Tahiliani experiments with drapes, hemlines, textures and colours.

You can expect to find women’s and men’s clothes for a variety of occasions. His breathtaking accessories complement each of his pieces beautifully. You can easily wear many of his garments on a day-to-day basis. But he also has a bridal wear collection is highly embellished with elements of sensibility.

For occasions when you need a little more sparkle and volume, Swarovski crystals add sparkle to well-constructed garments. This is more predominant in bridal couture. But you can also expect to see layers of finesse in stunning gold pieces designed by Tahiliani himself. The experience of his store is pleasant too, with handmade carpets and hand-tufted rugs to embody Mumbai fashion too.

2. Manish Malhotra 

Manish Malhotra offers bridal, couture, and everyday collections at two stores in Mumbai. The label offers a wide selection of tailored and excellently cut ensembles. In 2005, Malhotra launched his own couture label. Since taking over Mumbai fashion, Malhotra helped to evolve Indian fabrics from traditional designs to contemporary ones. He’s responsible for an array of workmanship for India beyond fashion too. In 2017, the Philadelphia Museum of Art featured his 2013 couture collection – Threads of Emotion.

With 27 years’ experience in costume styling and as an entrepreneur, Malhotra started a career in modelling whilst studying at the Elphinstone College in Mumbai. Sketching and a passion clothes helped to push his career and develop his skills in fashion.

Tunics, embroidered kaftas, jumpsuits and sparkling anarkalis are a few of his popular styles and designs. His purple Resham embroidered anarkali set features a multi-coloured neckline and cuffs with stunning detailing on the bodice. The velvet border elegantly accentuates the deep purple for a luxurious persona.

His popularity with Mumbai fashion has seen some of the world’s famous actresses sporting his pieces. These include Karisma Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kangana Renaut and more. He even worked on a traditional outfit for Michael Jackson when he visited India in the 1990’s. His huge influence on Mumbai fashion has expanded overseas to style other celebrities, such as Naomi Campbell along with Miss India in 2017.

3. Neeta Lulla

Neeta Lulla is an Indian costumer designer who’s worked on over 300 films. Since 1985, Lulla has designed wedding dresses and worked independently with Bollywood actresses such as Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai. These celebrities helped to develop a trend of Mumbai fashion in films. This also helped her to land many more big clients.

Despite her huge career in fashion, she dreamed of becoming a choreographer but turned her destiny to fashion designing. As she branched into fashion and worked with a choreographer of fashion, she developed skills and confidence to discover her own designing skills.

As a large portion of her Mumbai fashion is in films, it requires her to read scripts and understand the character’s personality. Consequently, her creations say a lot about attitudes, religion and morals. However, when designing and creating everyday clothes for clients, there’s more freedom and versatility in the stages.

Lulla’s sensuous and elegant mannerism in designing helps her to create statement pieces every day. Despite having a heavy influence in Mumbai fashion, Lulla has a passion for brands such as Prada. She loves the cut and structure of many of their garments. Some of her creations are inspired by Alexander McQueen whom she admires.


Who Are Your Favourite Mumbai Fashion Designers?

We hope you enjoyed reading about Mumbai fashion and have gained some knowledge into this amazing culture. 

We’d like to hear about your favourite designers and who inspires your wardrobe choices. Let us know in the comments to keep the discussion going.

Related Article: 6 Best Luxury Hotels in Mumbai for Indulgent Travelers

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