After sending his outfits down the Cannes red carpet, designer Manish Malhotra made his personal debut at the international film festival on the French Riviera. “I take the art of socialising seriously; entertaining friends and hosting events has always given me immense joy and pleasure. I’m sharing my socialising goals with everyone, while taking inspiration from the streets, beaches and chic fashion all around,” he says, adding that he is in the city as part of Magnum Ice Cream’s promotional events. While he is primarily visiting the film festival, it will be quite a short trip which won’t leave him much time to catch up on movies, he says.
That hasn’t stopped him from being quite the man about town. His social media feed testifies to this fact, as he broke out the moves at after parties that had a bevy of stars on the guest list, and met up with friends like actor Koel Purie.
A couple of weeks ago, nearly everyone from Bollywood attending #SonamKiShaadi sported Malhotra’s designs —Ranbir Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Kajol, Katrina Kaif, Varun Dhawan Karan Johar et al. His run continues in Cannes, with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan choosing a custom-made maxi dress in pastel blue, embroidered with multi-coloured sequins and beads and Huma Qureshi donning a sparkly gold gown. At earlier editions, red carpet regular Sonam Kapoor too has opted for his label.
But it it Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s wardrobe that has made waves this year. Back in 2012, the Manto actor spoke about how no designer believed that he was going to Cannes (although he had three films being screened there that year). Instead, he wore a simple black suit made by his local tailor and continued to wear it for subsequent visits to the festival. Cut to 2018, and he finally retired his old suit and opted for a bespoke wardrobe from Malhotra. This included a light pink blazer for the premier (paired with tan shoes), a grey three-piece for a photo call and a classic tuxedo for the red carpet. “As Nawaz is representing the country on an international platform, I wanted to make sure that his look is sharp and effortless, while keeping Indian aesthetics in mind,” he says.
