The Designers Behind the Extravagant Styles

MUMBAI — More than four months of festivities came to a close Sunday night as an estimated 14,000 guests made their way to celebrate the wedding reception of industrialist and business tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son, Anant, 29.  

The bride, Radhika Merchant, is the daughter of Shaila and Viren Merchant.

The richest man in Asia, with his net worth estimated at about $120 billion, Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita set the pace for a celebration that outdid even the huge, ostentatious events for their daughter Isha in 2018 and son Akash in 2019. Retail and fashion analysts said that although it was a private event, it would change the course of the estimated $75 billion wedding market in India, which is already the driving force for fashion designers in the country.

The level of glamour was explosive.

The top designers in India were clearly working on adrenaline, along with thousands of weavers, artisans and focusing on creating unique styles for the thousands of guests. Watching the guest list, which included global and Indian celebrities at the wedding on Friday night, which was held at the Jio Convention Centre in the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, the focus on branded designer wear was clear: Priyanka Chopra Jonas wore a Tarun Tahiliani; Kim and Khloé Kardashian, wearing saris, emerged in Manish Malhotra designs, and the top stars of Bollywood also wore those brands, along with Anamika Khanna, Falguni and Shane Peacock, as well as others like Arpita Mehta and Karan Torani.

The Ambani family themselves went their long time designer duo Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla.

For the first time, the focus was not just about who was arriving at the event but who designed their outfits. “Ten years back it was more about buying what was available,” said Parthip Thyagarajan, chief executive officer and cofounder of digital media platform and aggregator WeddingSutra. “But now it is all about personalization, customization and high end-designer wear.”

Designer teams echoed the point, saying that more than 80 percent of the styles had been custom created for the event, while about 20 percent were bought from retail stores.

While complaints about the level of ostentatious design were being brought up at various levels, Thyagarajan observed that the wedding would be “very good for the industry. You will find a lot more inspired material soon, and the economics of it works toward job creation as well. The reason I look at this very positively is they have done it for their son’s wedding — and this is a changing trend in cities that instead of the bride’s family having to organize everything, people in metro cities are sharing the bill.”

The focus for the wedding itself was on traditional wear, which was donned by everyone from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to leading athletes to even the Kardashian sisters, who wore a maang tikka, completing the Indian look.  

However, there was plenty of opportunity for variety.

Celebrations began in March with a three-day prenuptial event at the Ambani home in Jamnagar, and Radhika Merchant’s custom-made pink Versace gown was noted and compared later to the blue Versace gown she wore on the three-day cruise celebrations in Europe in May. In both instances a long list of celebrities attended, including Ivanka Trump, Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton and others.

Special performances for these included a concert by Rihanna for the event in March (for which news reports estimated she was paid $6 million), and during the cruise in Europe, Katy Perry, Backstreet Boys and Pitbull. Justin Bieber (estimated to be paid $10 million) performed at the sangeet ceremony last week, and other singers this week have included Rema, and Luis Fonsi, and top Indian singers as well including A.R Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal and Sukhbir.

Industry estimates of the tab for the wedding were rampant, varying from $350 million to $600 million.

All three children have been inducted into the family business, with their daughter Isha head of Reliance Retail Ltd. and Anant, the youngest of the three siblings, heading the energy vertical.

Reliance Retail is a leading player in fashion retail, as is its subsidiary Reliance Brands, which has brought into India leading brands including Armani Exchange, Burberry, Canali, Diesel, Emporio Armani, Gas, Giorgio Armani, Hamleys, Hugo Boss and Jimmy Choo, and has been working closely with many of the designers who were closely associated with the wedding. Reliance Brands also has been taking stakes in Indian designer-led companies, including a 40 percent holding in Manish Malhotra’s label in 2021 and a 51 percent stake in Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla (AJSK) in 2022.

Here, a look at the key designers chosen by the Ambanis for the wedding — and beyond.

Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla: They have long been Ambani’s favorite designers. 

“We have a wonderful and much cherished relationship with the Ambani family, which has lasted three decades,” designer Sandeep Khosla told WWD. The duo designed the bridal and groom garments for Isha and Anand Piramal in 2018 and for Shloka and Akash in 2019, as well as for their other wedding functions. The designers told WWD that their design “reimagined and reinvented classical couture” and remained founded in “unparalleled craftsmanship,” as they created designs for the wedding.

“Anant Ambani is a connoisseur of craft and couture. His clothes had to be spectacular. We have used real silver dipped in gold for his engagement band gala [high neck jacket]; we focused on the Persian Midnight Garden as well as his gold wedding sherwani — these are priceless museum quality pieces. His clothes also contain a profusion of animal and bird motifs to pay homage to his passionate love for animals especially elephants.

“We visualized long, hard and deep on the clothes for Radhika too,” they said, referring to the long process of creating a unique story. “A Swarovski crystal piece de resistance lehenga for her sangeet and her bridal ghagra in immaculate ivory, red and gold zardozi inspired by traditional Gujarati bridalwear.

“Radhika’s post-wedding first outfit is an incredible work of wearable art made in collaboration with master artist Jayasri Burman, who painted the lehenga like a masterpiece. It has been embroidered by us and conceived by the brilliant style icon and movie producer Rhea Kapoor. It is kitsch high art akin to a Frida Kahlo.

“For Nita Ambani and Isha Ambani Piramal, we created Banarasi rangkat ghagras to pay homage to our incredible textile tradition. They are embroidered with zardozi, zari and sequins and are hallmark pieces of exceptional grace and beauty.

“So yes, it has been a dream designing for this one-of-a-kind wedding. And we have given our whole hearts and creative imagination to it along with the necessary blood, sweat and tears.

It has been unforgettable,” Khosla said.

Manish Malhotra has been one of top India’s designers with the highest turnover for years, and a favorite of Bollywood stars. With more than 30 years in the business, he is known for glamour and weddings.

He created numerous designs for the guests as well as the Ambani family, focusing on traditional Indian craftsmanship, Banarasi fabrics and styles. Standing out at the event was the ivory lehenga for Kim Kardashian, with an off-shoulder silk blouse embroidered with floral motifs and light gold details, and a bespoke aureate lehenga made of handloom brocade and paisley motifs for Khloé Kardashian, enhanced by cascading strands of radiant pearls and gold beadwork at the back, and a handwoven tissue drape, as well as the eye-catching scarlet sari for Kim Kardashian.

Tarun Tahiliani is known for his drapes with form and fluidity. At the wedding, he created Chopra Jonas’ yellow saffron lehenga with fluttering 3D-embroidered flowers and petals, as well as designs for Isha and Radhika Ambani and a host of Bollywood celebrities.

Anamika Khanna is based in Kolkata and has fast become one of the top designers in the country. She was one of the first Indian designers to showcase at Paris Fashion Week, and is known for her chic silhouettes. While she created a multitude of outfits for the event, the eye-catching stole made of flowers for the haldi ceremony caught the public’s attention, as well as her design for Radhika Merchant for the event on Sunday.  

“Radhika’s outfit for the Sunday reception was in collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana and a true blend of the Indian culture in complete modernity with something completely international,” she told WWD. “Marrying the two, keeping in mind that this was an Indian wedding reception. The gold satin sari drape was teamed with a complete hand-embroidered stole, the trail was in two layers mixing techniques of hand embroidery (zardosi and aari). Rhea Kapoor and I worked closely on putting this look together, right from the silhouette to the color palette, and the work — every element was very thoughtfully curated and once we decided on the reception outfit, the corset was selected and flown in.”