Manish Malhotra On Making The Modern Maharaja
Manish Malhotra may be synonymous with womenswear, but he’s also rewritten the rules of how Indian men dress—on screen, at weddings and on the red carpet
Manish Malhotra recently celebrated thirty-five years of being a costume designer and twenty years of his eponymous label. It has been a landmark. Today, he helms a homegrown luxury house that is part of Reliance Brands Limited’s portfolio (they acquired 40 percent of the brand in 2021, with Malhotra still holding a majority share). Much has been written about the former model who became one of India’s most sought-after costume designers, and later the couturier most Indian brides dream of wearing on their wedding day. But while his womenswear legacy dominates the spotlight, Malhotra’s impact on menswear—through film, fashion, and even his own personal style—often goes unnoticed. There is no question, however, that his contribution has shaped how Indian men dress, both on screen and off.
Malhotra notes that around 35% of his business comes from menswear, and it is one of the fastest-growing parts of his brand. This alone points to how dramatically menswear has evolved in India. As a young costume designer in the early 1990s, he made the decision to make women his focus. “Back then, male actors didn’t really care about clothes. They wore and T-shirts, often from their personal wardrobes. The heroines, they were ready to experiment, so I naturally gravitated more towards womenswear, because I could build a stronger identity there,” he says. When he launched his fashion label in 2005, it followed the same pattern.
His breakout moment as a costume designer came in 1995 with Rangeela. Urmila Matondkar’s crop tops, high-waisted shorts and bold prints defined a new style vocabulary for women. His work on the film won him the first-ever Filmfare Award for Costume Design—a nod to how Malhotra had changed the fashion language of Bollywood forever. “It was while working with actresses, who were already aware that costumes were not just clothes but narratives of their roles, that I felt most challenged,” he recalls.
Yet, even then, he always had a clear idea of how Indian men should dress. “It was always about being sharp for me, that men should not have too much fuss.” Think of Shah Rukh Khan’s sculptural sherwani in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001): a black velvet piece with silver thread embroidery, worn with an elaborately embroidered dupatta—this became the go-to look for sangeet parties across India. From this moment onwards, the sherwani was redefined with the Malhotra label.
Then came Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), where Saif Ali Khan’s playful boy-next-door casuals—bright knits, layered shirts—redefined Western wear in India by making it colourful, stylish, and aspirational yet relatable. Malhotra reminds us that fashion and storytelling are, at their heart, the same craft—both capable of shaping culture and aspiration in equal measure.
His film styling in the early 2000s made Indian men feel they too could be fashion forward. There was something approachable about his looks, and by now the term “metrosexual” had become cool in India. It was no longer only the women who wanted to wear Malhotra at their weddings—the men did too. His runway shows have seen Shahid Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor and several others walk the ramp for him. In 2015, Malhotra presented his first-ever menswear-only runway show, titled The Gentlemen’s Club. It stayed loyal to his love of contemporary Indian elegance—sharply tailored bandhgalas and sherwanis gleamed with jewel-toned embroidery, while Indo-Western hybrids and statement accessories made every look cinematic yet effortlessly modern.
On the ramp, Malhotra isn’t afraid to add drama. In a recent collection, he even added a train to a turban. “Why should only women wear a trail?” he asks. His personal love of brooches and tiepins has also found its way into his fine jewellery collections. Since launching a high jewellery vertical in 2023, he believes diamonds (and emeralds and rubies) can also be a man’s best friend. “I think Anant Ambani really started this trend of brooches at his wedding,” says the designer, who was creative director for the recent Ambani wedding. Jewelled collar pins, cufflinks and buttons are a style statement that he has embraced and reinterpreted for his own collections. It is perhaps at weddings that Malhotra has had the most impact on menswear. His creations have been worn by celebrity grooms such as Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan. “Sidharth, coming from Delhi, really understands embroidery. He has the height, the looks, the model background—he carries it beautifully,” recalls Malhotra. The ivory zardozi-embroidered sherwani Sidharth wore for his nuptials to Kiara Advani has since become a gold standard for modern grooms and remains a staple in Malhotra’s collections. “Varun, for his wedding, wore an ivory sherwani. I personally love ivory and white on men; it looks regal, royal. I’ve always been drawn to Indo Western silhouettes for men—they’re strong, elegant and timeless.” He notes that today’s grooms are spending more than ever on their wedding outfits. “When I first started, grooms would not want to spend more than ₹2 lakh on their wedding outfit. Today they are happy to spend five to six lakhs.”
This year, however, it has been Malhotra’s own style that has made headlines. He began the year as the first Indian designer to walk the ramp at the Golden Globes, followed by red carpet appearances at both the Met Gala and the Cannes Film Festival. “I’ve always been private about my appearances until they actually happen. Even my closest friends only find out a day before. For the Golden Globes, I didn’t tell anyone until I was already there. The same with the Met,” he says.
For his Met Gala debut, he brought drama to the red carpet in a black velvet sherwani-cape, paired with a sharply tailored blazer with hand-embroidered details. His tie and lapels were adorned with high jewellery from his own label. From its sharp shoulders to its high jewellery accents and East-meets-West silhouette, this look spoke of how global high fashion Indian menswear can be. It commanded attention. “I wanted to respect the theme (Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion) while showcasing Indian embroidery and jewellery. I normally don’t wear dramatic clothes, but I felt I had to—it was a special moment for me and the brand.” From his jewellery to his silhouettes, Malhotra enjoys that feel of being a “Modern Maharajah”—and that was evident in the look he designed for Karan Johar at the Cannes red carpet earlier this year. Johar made a grand entrance in an ivory bandhgala coat by Malhotra, expertly styled by Eka Lakhani. The embroidery, which took 1,200 hours by 12 skilled artisans, was studded with buttons, collar pins, cufflinks and a brooch from the Manish Malhotra fine jewellery collection. Paired with a ruffled shirt, the ensemble brought drama and elegance in equal measure. “A Bridgerton-meets-Bollywood royalty moment,” Malhotra calls it.
Johar and Malhotra share a special bond that began in the late 1990s on film sets, when a young Malhotra began designing for Johar’s projects and for personal milestones such as his 50th birthday or award shows. Johar, known for his love of fashion, often turns to Malhotra. “Sometimes Karan’s style is a little over the top—even for me! But that’s what makes him so much fun to dress; he trusts me to turn drama into elegance.”
Three decades on, Malhotra has moved from redefining how Bollywood stars dress on screen to reimagining how Indian men present themselves. He continues to set the benchmark for grooms, and his own red-carpet appearances now signal a global chapter for Indian menswear. This November, life comes full circle as Malhotra debuts as a film producer with Gustaakh Ishq, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Vijay Verma. Though he won’t reveal much about the costumes, he says, “The costumes will carry the same DNA of elegance, embroidery and storytelling that I’ve always loved,” he says.
For the future, Malhotra hopes Gen Z men look at how they can reinterpret Indian classic silhouettes for contemporary wardrobes. Having dressed Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé, he says, “We’re already making an impact globally in womenswear, and now it’s starting in menswear.” His store in Dubai Mall’s Luxury Avenue, which draws men of all nationalities as clients, is further proof. “I think Indian fashion’s menswear global moment is going to happen soon.”
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