Manish Arora: an exclusive interview with 'the Indian John Galliano'


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A striped vest featuring a medley of clashing colours, from red and bright green to fuchsia, yellow and turquoise, seems almost too safe a style choice for fashion designer Manish Arora, who is famed for his extravagance. I had expected something a little more outlandish.

Arora’s unashamed flamboyance has led to him being nicknamed “the John Galliano of India”. He takes this as an unequivocal compliment. “To be honest, [Galliano] is one of my favourite designers ever, and I don’t think it’s fair for me to be compared with him,” he says when we meet in Dubai. “Of course, we have a common factor, which is flamboyance.”

Excess is the defining feature of Arora’s artistry. As fashion writer Amy Verner once said: “Scale back the embellishments on Arora's designs by half, and they would still qualify as maximalist by most standards.”

I clearly remember my first introduction to Arora's creations. I was in the Valleydez boutique in Dubai's Sunset Mall, and came across a sheer bomber jacket decorated with picturesque clouds, roses and spaceships, some printed, others embroidered, in a palette consisting of pistachio green, blush pink and lilac. Assuming it was the creation of some obscure Japanese label, I eyed the tag and was astonished to see an Indian name on it – Manish Arora. Unlike many other brands hailing from the subcontinent, Arora's work cannot easily be pigeonholed as "eastern" or "traditional" – his output transcends conceptual cultural norms on a number of levels. While there may be folk-inspired touches, such as the ornate Indian jewellery prints on his spring/summer 2013 garments, and interpretations of traditional lehenga skirts on his spring/summer 2016 runway, Arora's designs can hardly be classified as ethnic.

Still, he doesn’t shy away from his heritage, either. Arora, who today lives between New Delhi and Paris, embraces his roots with gusto, going as far as to claim that he’s one of the few “authentic” Indian designers out there. “There are Indian designers here and there globally, but they are more American; they studied in America, or lived all of their lives in the United Kingdom, so you can’t really call them Indians,” he says. “When I was travelling and showing my work internationally, there’s one thing I knew: that I had to take my culture with me. My fashion culture is all about textiles and embellishments, and who would know it better than me – it’s my identity.”

Arora was raised in Mumbai and studied at The National Institute of Fashion Technology in New Delhi, rather than travelling abroad for his education. When he graduated in 1994, he earned a Best Student award for his efforts. Soon after, he launched his label and started participating in fashion weeks in both India and Hong Kong. By 2005, he had bagged spots at both London Fashion Week and Miami Fashion Week, and in 2007, was invited to showcase at Paris Fashion Week, where he has been presenting collections, biannually, ever since. In fact, this year marks the 10-year anniversary of Arora showing at Paris Fashion Week. “I’ve finished 20, no, 21 shows in Paris,” says Arora. “I’ve survived, and I’m still going on.”

In 2001, Arora partnered with Reebok and debuted a sportswear-inspired diffusion line called Fish Fry, and in 2012, he started a two-year stint as the artistic director of Paco Rabanne, during which time celebrities including Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez sported his designs. Last year, Arora received the prestigious Chevalier de la legion d'Honneur from French ambassador François Richier, becoming the first Indian fashion designer to receive the award, which applauds both French citizens and foreigners for their accomplishments and service to the nation.

When we meet, Arora is in Dubai to launch an exclusive Middle East collaboration with Kuwaiti-owned fashion label Riva. The collection presents Arora’s signature, vibrant aesthetic, but pared down for a more wearable, mass-market appeal. Naturally, a hallmark of the capsule collection is the bright embroidery that decorates collars, necklines and jacket-fronts. When I point out that embroidered motifs have become something of a global style trend of late, Arora is quick to point out that they have been a key element of his brand since the very beginning. “It may be in fashion, or not, for others, but for me it’s a constant feature in my collections,” he says. “I’m from India, and it would be very silly of me not to do embroidery because if anyone can do embroidery well, it’s the Indians.”

And yet, most people, Indian or not, would never think to take embroidery to the extremes that Arora does – his recent autumn/winter 2017 collection, for instance, offers an inimitable combination of embroidered elements, including both culturally inspired paisleys and futuristic, galactic icons such as planets, clouds, rockets and shooting stars. These are all coupled with intricate beadwork, on garments like a long-line quilted bomber jacket in orange, or a flared midi-skirt in iridescent silver.

For Arora, a fashion show is much more than an opportunity to parade clothing; – it’s an entire production. He says that if he hadn’t become a fashion designer, he’d like to think he’d be making films. Which makes sense. When conceptualising his collections and catwalk shows, Arora puts on his director’s hat, and is known for his theatrics, like sending a blue-dyed Pomeranian dog down the runway in the arms of a model.

“Fashion, for me, is not just clothing; – it’s the whole character. I build these fictitious characters in my mind right from the beginning of the collection. I make them up in my mind, and work towards that personality that doesn’t exist. It’s a fantasy character, but I imagine what that person would be like, and that’s the end result that you see in the shows,” he says.

At times, Arora’s models are given contemporary Indian-inspired makeovers, with sindoor sprinkled through their hair partings and oversized bindis painted on their foreheads (but in a shade of hot pink, rather than the traditional vermilion). At other times, their cheekbones are decorated with star- or cupcake-shaped stickers and sequins. Feathered eyelash extensions, embellished shower-cap-contraptions, spike-adorned headpieces and massive pom-pom ear coverings have also been part of the styling for Arora’s shows.

Although his clothing is categorised as ready-to-wear, it’s loud, exaggerated and borderline avant-garde. His sales are strongest in China, with the Middle East sitting in second place – something that the designer attributes wholly to his ostentatious approach. “[People in] the Middle East and China might be very different in their aesthetics, but they have a very similar mental situation where they like to stand out and are quite adventurous with style. They aren’t afraid of colours, they like embellishments and they like everything a bit over the top, and that’s exactly where I fit in,” he says.

Though his current collaboration with Riva gives Middle East-based customers a conservative, watered-down taste of his eccentric universe, with loose silhouettes, longer sleeves and hemlines, and just a smidgen of his beaded embroidery work, don't imagine for a second that Manish Arora is calming down. He was a New Delhi fashion student who, within a decade and a half, reached the esteemed echelons of Paris Fashion Week, and his stamina and enthusiasm show little sign of wavering. The designer still feels like he has a lot to achieve: "I would love to design a building; an architectural building; that would be my dream, or to do costumes for Cirque du Soleil, or to be the creative director of Burning Man."

Turkish Ladies

Various artists, Sony Music Turkey 

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THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
2019 ASIA CUP POTS

Pot 1
UAE, Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia

Pot 2
China, Syria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Qatar, Thailand

Pot 3
Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, India, Vietnam

Pot 4
North Korea, Philippines, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, Turkmenistan

Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.

Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.

The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

LAST-16 EUROPA LEAGUE FIXTURES

Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)

FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm

Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm

Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm

Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm 

Thursday

Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm

Sevilla v Roma  (one leg only)  8.55pm

FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm 

Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm 

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

What is the definition of an SME?

SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.

A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors. 

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Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final

Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8

Power: 611bhp

Torque: 620Nm

Transmission: seven-speed automatic

Price: upon application

On sale: now