Fashion wizard Manish Malhotra created a special couture line to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Mijwan Welfare Society’s efforts to empower women and preserve the traditional craft of chikankari embroidery.
Manish Malhotra's Mijwan Couture Show took place at the Jio World Convention Centre with Deepika Padukone and her husband Ranveer Singh as the royal showstoppers. A star-studded event, the evening exuded unparalleled royalty and elan with celebrities flaunting embellished chikankari designs created by Manish Malhotra.
Ranveer looked every bit dapper as he walked out in an exquisitely handcrafted Chikankari black sherwani on a velvet base. He paired the look with Manish Malhotra’s black suede shoes, embellished with exaggerated tassels. While Deepika graced the runway with a new take on traditional savoir-faire. She wore a soft taupe bridal chikankari lehenga embellished in hints of champagne and silver sequins, crystals sprinkled with Swarovski stones, on a velvet base with a theatrical hand embroidered Chikankari Manish Malhotra signature veil.
Chikankari embroidery has been a dying craft and Manish successfully brought it alive with mammoth curtains and majestic drapes in the background. The decade-long association of Manish Malhotra and the Mijwan Welfare Society has placed the craft of chikankari in the global context of couture, conscience, and culture.
Mijwan Welfare Society works to empower women and educate the girl child in India's rural areas while preserving the ancient art form of Chikankari. An NGO founded by the Late Kaifi Azmi, it is led by Shabana Azmi and Namrata Goyal and supported by India's leading couture house, Manish Malhotra. From being a community of merely 40 women when it was first founded, it now supports over 600 women local women artisans across 10 districts and 460 villages.
"It is evident that strong women foster and bolster other talented women, empowering communities at large. The Mijwan artisans provide further evidence of this spirit of sisterhood, and I love that we are preserving a traditional artform in the process while giving it a character of 'newness' with constant efforts in evolving, encouraging, and empowering."Manish Malhotra
To preserve the ancient artform, the label showcased its 2022 collection, a brand signature that embodied the balance we seek between tradition and innovation. The flowing silhouettes exuded liberating energy, with stand-out feathered corsets, crossover styles, and exaggerated sleeves. The elegance and ethereality of the couture brand were prevalent with theatrical romantic veils, pristine ivory lehengas, and bursts of tulle draped blouses. The assemblage transitioned to bright pastel sequin sheets and deep hues of olive, blues, and blacks, adding dramatic contrast to ivories.
The collection was accessorised with heritage treasures, envisioned in modern art by Manish Malhotra Jewellery, curated line of Raniwala 1881. All the jewels were handcrafted to perfection with polkis, rubies, flat-cut diamonds, pure gold, Russian and Zambian emeralds, and pearls.
Designed to be an epicentre of ideas, innovation, and culture, Jio World Convention Centre is the foremost venue for social events, conventions, exhibitions, and weddings in the heart of Mumbai at Bandra Kurla Complex. The reputed Daniel Bauer Makeup Academy enhanced and complemented the beauty of the stars. Celebration sponsors included Moët & Chandon, and Hennessy.
The Mijwan collection is now available at all the Manish Malhotra Flagship stores in Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad and online here.
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