There’s always a lot going on in Mumbai, India’s fashion capital, but there was one party that had the city’s creative scene out in full force this week. After all, this is not a city that needs an excuse to party — especially when the occasion is toasting i-D and Jimmy Choo, and our ongoing partnership. Rounding off the Indian festive season, we invited the city’s stars of screen and style to join us for a night of drinks and dancing, amidst the hustle and bustle of the City of Dreams, to celebrate its place as one of the world’s leading fashion capitals, with a creative class to rival London, Milan and Paris.
Guests arrived at the IF.BE space, where one of the city’s oldest banyan trees was lit up in Rani pink — “the navy blue of India,” as Diana Vreeland once proclaimed — and invited to discover the immersive exhibition of the photo story produced for i-D, featuring the work of three of India’s leading designers: Raw Mango, Gaurav Gupta and Bloni Atelier. The designers were on hand, many of the guests wearing them, while the fresh-faced model Anugraha Natarajan arrived in a brocade Raw Mango sari, and upon seeing herself in the images throughout the space, shed a tear of joy.
Bollywood actress and Jimmy Choo brand ambassador Ananya Panday and girl-of-the-moment Tania Shroff caused a storm with the local paparazzi upon arrival, while Delhi-based fashion icon Kalyani Chawla flashed her slit-up trousers to reveal a pair of fuchsia Jimmy Choo’s Azia sandals — “the most comfortable shoes for dancing,” she announced, mingling amongst the city’s new establishment of up-and-coming creatives: photographer Ashish Shah, stylist James Lalthanzuala, and designer Ruchika Sachdeva, to name a few. Diet Paratha’s Anita Chhiba danced alongside photographers Vivek Vadoliya, while Feat Artists’ Smita Lasrado and Nikhil Dudani led guests to the dancefloor, where DJs Nida Merchant and Nina Shah riled up the crowd with a mix of Bollywood classics, hardcore techno and good old fashioned club hits. Food from the city’s go-to restaurant Masque went down a treat, soaking up the tequila cocktails that ran dry by the end of the night.
Photographer Dolly Devi, fresh off a plane from Goa, was on hand to capture it all. Here’s some highlights from the night.
Credits
Photography Dolly Devi
i-D Consultant Osman Ahmed
Public Relations and Communications Services Longform India
Production Manager Gabriela Peneda
Account Director Jenny-Rose Kendrick