Perhaps Radhika Merchant’s most sought-after look at the recent Ambani wedding was the handpainted lehenga she wore for the blessings ceremony, created by Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla (AJSK). According to the duo, the idea for using an artist to hand-paint the lehenga came from film producer and celebrity stylist Rhea Kapoor. The designers commissioned artist and sculptor Jayasri Burman to create a 12-panelled painting with human figures sitting under pink huèd clouds, surrounded by flora and fauna. “Jayasri painted for eight to ten hours a day for a month to create her magical work on Italian canvas,” Abu and Sandeep tell THE WEEK in an exclusive interview. “So engrossed was she that her brush began dancing on the canvas. Our atelier then took over. We embroidered the entire lehenga in lavish zardozi set alight with thousands of sequins. The blouse was entirely embroidered in multicolour resham.”
Ever since the Ambanis bought a 40 per cent stake in MM Styles Ltd, which owns Manish Malhotra’s eponymous fashion house, in 2021, and a 51 per cent stake in AJSK the following year, they have been making use of their investment. At Anant and Radhika’s wedding, many of the guests, along with the Ambanis themselves, were wearing outfits designed by Malhotra and AJSK.
In the past, Abu and Sandeep have also designed for the weddings of the other Ambani children―Akash and Isha. The planning and conceptualisation of the Anant-Radhika wedding began 18 months ago. “Every garment was a masterpiece, created with total dedication and absolute love,” they say. “And each outfit was unique and stood apart. It took between eight and 24 artisans, and up to four months to make each outfit.”
Each AJSK creation was exceptional. Shweta Bachchan stunned in a crushed, multi-panel real tissue ghagra adorned with real gota. She wore it with a Byzantine blouse layered with a maximal jadau neckpiece. (This was not the first time Shweta was making a statement in an AJSK creation. Back in the 1990s, when wearing white for your wedding was frowned upon, she wore a hand-embroidered white chikankari sari designed by the duo.) The pieces for Isha Ambani’s jadau-encrusted blouse were sourced from her personal collection and from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Radhika’s hand-embroidered wedding lehenga was Abu and Sandeep’s interpretation of ‘panetar’―the Gujarati tradition of brides wearing red and white saris gifted by their maternal uncles.
Who would have thought that an Independence Day brunch on August 15, 1986, would blossom into one of the most successful collaborations in Indian fashion? When Abu and Sandeep met at the brunch, they immediately hit it off. On their first meeting itself, they knew they were meant to be together in their artistic journey. “It has been 39 years of betting on each other,” they say. “The best decision of our lives. Through all the ups and downs, the blood, sweat and tears, what we have is pure alchemy. One cannot even imagine working or living without each other.”
Abu comes from an affluent family in Mumbai while Sandeep was born to a Punjabi family in Kapurthala. Initially, Sandeep joined his family business of garments and leather, while Abu as a young designer had been offered a boutique in Juhu by a client. He was hesitant to sign the contract alone, but with Sandeep onboard, there was no looking back. The two opened their first boutique, Mata Hari, barely five months into knowing each other.
So when two creative masters join forces, is there bonhomie or a battle of wills? Sandeep says there is no division of roles apart from the fact that, unlike him, Abu is an artist and a master sketch maker. “We are both creative heads at AJSK,” he says. “Our sensibilities and aesthetics are the same. We revere crafts and embroideries, luxury fabrics and textiles. We have different personalities and are highly sensitive with strong likes, dislikes and opinions. Each of us engages in an attempt to persuade the other, and if that fails, we respect each other enough to agree to give in.”
While some may choose maximalism as a seasonal trend or flavour of the year, Abu and Sandeep are maximalists to the core. “Our sensibilities and aesthetics crave the complex, the multi-layered, the divinely detailed,” they say. “More is always more.” Chikankari and mirror work have been their signature for years. Their tryst with chikankari began in Lucknow, during a visit to Sandeep’s aunt. “We were familiar with chikankari’s Mughal legacy and its intricate and regal past,” they say. “By the 1980s, chikan had become casual wear. The stitches were now crudely expressed and the outfits lacked finesse. We were determined to revive and reinvent the craft. We went on a hunting mission throughout Lucknow to find ancient chikan printing blocks, printers and artisans.” They then gently retrained the artisans to “discover the finesse and joy of creating fine fabrics like muslin, chiffon and georgette”. It took two years of rigorous R&D and experimentation before they created their debut collection which was exhibited at The Oberoi in Delhi. It was a sellout. Today, if you see a chikankari creation rendered in shades of white with intricate designs, you can be sure it is an AJSK. Such is the popularity of their craft.
Among their muses are some of the biggest divas of Bollywood and Hollywood, from Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor to Gigi Hadid and Judi Dench. They are proud that they are today dressing the daughters of film stars whom they have been dressing for almost four decades. But no ramp is long enough to contain the effervescent energy of the design duo. In 1993, they began their work in furniture and interior design, beginning with Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan’s house in Mumbai―Pratiksha. Over the years, they have completed 25 spectacular residential projects in Delhi, Mumbai, Rishikesh, Hyderabad, Dubai and London.
“As artists, our creativity has never been restricted to fashion,” they say. “Design is in our veins and its expression will spill over to other mediums. Apart from interiors we also work in event design and wedding design. We see endless possibilities to expand our work in all three.” Now that Reliance has invested majorly in their brand, they plan to launch stores in new locations. Some of their labels include Asal by Abu Sandeep and Mard by Abu Sandeep. Gulabo, an e-commerce pret label, has captured the imagination of a new generation. Their appeal, it seems, transcends time and age.