Perhaps Radhika Merchant’s most coveted garment at the recent Ambani wedding was the hand-painted lehenga she wore at the blessing ceremony, which was done by Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla (AJSK). According to the duo, the idea of commissioning 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-panel painting featuring human figures sitting under pink clouds, surrounded by flora and fauna. “Jayasri painted eight to 10 hours a day for a month to create her magical work on Italian canvas,” Abu and Sandeep tell THE WEEK in an exclusive interview. “She was so engrossed that her brush started dancing on the canvas. Then our studio took over. We embroidered the entire lehenga with lush zardozi, illuminated with thousands of sequins. The blouse was fully embroidered with multi-coloured resham.”
Since buying a 40 percent stake in MM Styles Ltd, which owns Manish Malhotra’s eponymous fashion house, in 2021 and a 51 percent stake in AJSK the following year, the Ambanis have been capitalizing on their investment. At Anant and Radhi’s wedding, many of the guests, as well as the Ambanis themselves, wore 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 conception of the Anant-Radhika wedding began 18 months ago. “Every garment was a masterpiece, created with absolute dedication and absolute love,” they say. “And each outfit was unique and stood out. Each outfit required between eight and 24 artisans and up to four months to create.”
Each of AJSK’s creations was exceptional. Shweta Bachchan was stunning in a scrunched, multi-panelled ghagra made of genuine fabric, embellished with genuine gota. She wore it with a byzantine blouse and a large jadau neckpiece. (This was not the first time Shweta made a statement with an AJSK creation. In the 1990s, when wearing white to a wedding was frowned upon, she wore a hand-embroidered white chikankari sari designed by the duo.) The pieces for Isha Ambani’s jadau-embellished blouse were sourced from her personal collection and from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Radhika’s hand-embroidered wedding lehenga was Abu and Sandeep’s take on ‘panetar’ – the Gujarati tradition where brides wear red and white saris gifted to them by their maternal uncles.
Paint my love: Radhika Merchant in a hand-painted lehenga by AJSK that she wore at her blessing ceremony.
Who would have thought that an Independence Day brunch on August 15, 1986 would evolve into one of the most successful collaborations in the Indian fashion industry? When Abu and Sandeep met over brunch, they hit it off immediately. From their first meeting, they knew they were destined to embark on their artistic journey together. “We have relied on each other for 39 years,” they say. “The best decision of our lives. Despite all the ups and downs, the blood, sweat and tears, we have pure alchemy. You can’t imagine working or living without each other.”
Abu hails from a wealthy family in Mumbai, while Sandeep was born in Kapurthala to a Punjabi family. Sandeep initially joined the family clothing and leather business, while Abu, as a young designer, was offered a boutique in Juhu by a client. He was hesitant to sign the contract alone, but with Sandeep on board, there was no turning back. The two opened their first boutique, Mata Hari, barely five months after they met.
So when two creative masters come together, is there harmony or a power struggle? Sandeep says there is no division of roles, apart from the fact that Abu, unlike him, is an artist and a master draftsman. “We are both creative minds at AJSK,” he says. “Our sensibilities and aesthetics are the same. We adore handicrafts and embroidery, luxurious fabrics and textiles. We have different personalities and are highly sensitive with strong likes, dislikes and opinions. Each of us tries to convince the other and when that fails, we respect each other enough to give in.”
While some choose maximalism as a seasonal trend or flavor of the year, Abu and Sandeep are maximalists through and through. “Our sensibility and aesthetic crave the complex, the layered, the divinely detailed,” they say. “More is always more.” Chikankari and mirror work have been their trademark for years. Their affair with chikankari began in Lucknow, on a visit to Sandeep’s aunt. “We were familiar with chikankari’s Mughal heritage and its intricate and majestic past,” they say. “By the 1980s, chikan had become casual wear. The stitches were now crude and the outfits lacked finesse. We were determined to revive and reinvent the craft. We went all over Lucknow looking for old chikan printing blocks, printers and artisans.” They then carefully trained the artisans to “discover the finesse and joy of making fine fabrics like muslin, chiffon and georgette.” It took two years of intensive R&D and experimentation to design their debut collection, which was showcased at The Oberoi in Delhi. It was a sell-out. Today, if you see a chikankari creation in shades of white with intricate patterns, you can be sure it is an AJSK. That is how popular their craft is.
Their muses include some of the biggest divas of Bollywood and Hollywood, from Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor to Gigi Hadid and Judi Dench. They are proud to now dress the daughters of film stars they have dressed for nearly four decades. But no runway is long enough to contain the designer duo’s bubbling energy. In 1993, they began their work in furniture and interior design, starting 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 limited to fashion,” they say. “Design is in our blood and its expression will spill over into other mediums. Besides interiors, we also work in event and wedding design. We see endless opportunities to expand our work in all three areas.” Now that Reliance has invested heavily in their brand, they plan to open stores in new locations. Their labels include Asal by Abu Sandeep and Mard by Abu Sandeep. Gulabo, an e-commerce pret-it label, has captured the imagination of a new generation. Its appeal, it seems, transcends time and age.
