The colourful life of Manish Arora
Know more about our favourite fashion designer, Manish Arora , and his opulence in creativity and colour.
When you think about Manish Arora, the first thing that comes to mind is genius in eccentricity of design. Colour. Pop. Feeling Lady Gaga of fashion. And not just Indian fashion, but fashion worldwide.
Born and brought up in Bombay and New Delhi, he had a humble beginning, which he incorporated into his style. Manish was actually at first pursuing a career in Commerce. He took a chance on faith and applied to the prestigious and selective National Institute of Fashion Technology in New Delhi and got through. And not only that, he graduated in 1994 with the Best Student Award. Not many people do that, especially with the ideas engraved into young minds of his time.
3 years later, he launched his own label Manish Arora, and after 3 years of success, he went on to become the first and only Indian to exhibit his designs at the Paris Fashion Week, and has continued being so till date.
If you think about it, it's all very inspiring and fairytale-like, in a way that the protagonist finally gets his "Prince Charming" in the form of exhuberent success in the fashion world, with the help of his fairy god mother's magic - courage to deviate from commerce, and diligence to succeed in fashion.
It is not too difficult to describe Manish Arora's style. He undoubtedly loves colour, and has combined it with his astute craftsmanship in a creative way to exhibit his effervescent style. He uses psychedellic prints not just on clothing, but extends out to giving the 65 year old Ambassador car a new look on his TV show (yes he has a TV show), Adventure of the Ladies' Tailor on Discovery's Travel and Living. He painted on to it old Indian cinema posters, winning the title of The Most Awesome Ambassador, informally.
He is probably the only famous designer who handcrafts his designs, giving him another "edge", as if he didn't have enough of that already. It's also made him pretty popular with the western celebrities, with Katy Perry becoming his first famous overseas client. Arora's 'merry go round' dress worn by her at the 2008 MTV Awards won both attention and praise, two things that don't go together too often anymore in today's world. Evidently, Arora finds inspiration in the ordinary to produce the extraordinary. Sonam Kapoor, too, is one of his most loyal customers, although she may be criticised for her dull wit after that infamous episode on Koffee with Karan, she must be given due credit for her sense of style.
He collaborated with Reebok in 2007 and came up with the designer sportswear line called Fish Fry, opening its first store in The Garden of 5 Senses in New Delhi. And in 2011, he has gained his biggest achievement yet, being appointed the Creative Director for the notable Spanish fashion brand, Paco Robanne. Pretty big for someone who has stayed true to his humble roots. Pretty big for anyone, actually. Although always taking inspiration from the culture of India, till 2013, he had never actually incorporated Indian silhouettes into his line. That year, he used Indian patterns at the Paris Fashion Week for Srping/Summer 2013, taking inspiration mainly from the jewellery of Rajasthan, with prints of Rajasthani animals on Kurtas. The critics were all praise for Manish, and his idea was a success as always.
It goes without saying that Indian designer Manish Arora is a talented individual who has delved into the closets of quirky minds with his eccentric yet eclectic style.
"Life is beautiful. In Arora's world, it is fun too." - Style.com