Dressing the caviar bride

She invented the kurti dress, which over the years became the metaphor for beach chic. The visual of model Tamara Moss running barefoot on the beach in an MJ kurti comes to mind. With every show and campaign - she's introduced a new talking point - be it the embellished bathrobe or the leather lehenga with Moroccan embroidery or more recently, a smart pantsuit worn by Nita Ambani at the IPL auction.

Champagne, cruise, carats and couture - the 4 Cs sort of underscore her global aesthetic. As I walk into her atelier located in the rarefied Pali Hill, I see a glittery fury of easy, wearable and modern separates. There's a sexy halter gown embellished with metallic chains and studs evoking a rock and roll vibe which sits side by side a Rococo embroidered wool crêpe jacket which can be worn with a pair of denims and also with a cocktail sari. Super light-feel lehengas in soft and luscious jersey fabric, Baroque style metallic work on party dresses and sequinned sporty jumpers make the store feel like a let's-play-dress-up box. Throw an embellished top with a mini or wear a sari with a leather corset - everything leaves ample scope for a kinetic mix-and-match.

The go-to designer for destination bride

Unlike her ornate and editorial-cool creations, Monisha's own style is simple and minimal. In this era of nonchalant schmoozing and networking, she doesn't socialise. Once she gets some time for herself, she prefers taking off to some exotic locale to soak in the moment and sketch.

"My mind is always thinking of some kind of an exotic destination when I start on the drawing board. That's the main inspiration and that's where everything comes from so that's the reason I like designing resort wear the most," she shares.

Monisha used to travel a lot but unfortunately not so much now due to work. "I travel mainly because of work which is so boring. I hardly ever go on holidays. I used to take off and sketch somewhere. Apart from last year, I did one week somewhere on my own and sketched. Earlier I used to take off on my own and sketch. I could be in Kerala, Maldives, Budapest, St Tropez – any part of the world," she shares. She looks at the world with rose-tinted sunglasses. "You send me to Dharavi and I'll find a spot, I'll kind of covert the area around me. I have this vision – I turn everything around me into something beautiful."

She shares her observations about destination weddings. "One thing I have noticed with destination weddings is – they are packed, back-to-back. Brides and their friends want something relaxing which they can slip into after the function. Even when they go for a massage they want to look like a bride."

Visually sumptuous campaigns

Her stunningly shot campaigns always stand out and so do the girls featured in them. She'll soon shoot her next one in Ibiza.

"The girl is very important always. The audition takes long. Of late, I have been shooting with R Burman. Earlier, I used to shoot with Farrokh Chothia. I never try and finish like 12 garments in a day. I don't mind getting three shots or three garments in a day, but they have to be done perfect."

Edited couture

Her last campaign, capturing the charm of a London wedding shot in the romantic Notting Hill, showcased easy separates along with ornate gowns.

"It was a city girl who was getting ready to go to a wedding. She's off for a date and then off to a wedding. Or it could just be a city girl who's getting married in London and she just wants to wear something beautiful and glamorous. It was that kind of a vibe. One of the shots was in a local restaurant. Even the garment she had on was not overly ornate. It had a bit of a London city feel. When you are talking about her having a small wedding in a London restaurant with 100 to 200 guests, she'll wear something like that."

The unmistakable global vibe

She studied fashion in London and when she began working, she began selling to London and the rest of Europe because the market in India was very nascent. She launched herself at Ensemble in 1990. "There was no market here so I started exporting. Obviously, when you are exporting, you think colour of the season, silhouette of the season, you think like that. Obviously, the training right from the early year was to think what western market was. Later, when fashion weeks started here and I started getting more into the Indian scene then obviously had to come in somewhere."

The other day she was trying to design an anarkali for a client. "I had to get back to the history books and Google. The anarkali I sketched at the end of the day looked like something you'd wear on a beach resort." (Laughs)

The story behind the leather lehenga

MJ had always worked with leather with her export lines – be it leather tops with embellishments or leather kurtis. "I thought constructing a leather lehenga with kalis. I didn't want to go Indian on the embroidery. I was like, let me go a little Moroccan on the embroidery. We did Moroccan detailing with the chord embroidery. I made the lehenga first and then I was like, what am I going to team it with? I am not going to make a choli, I am going to kill it. I can't make a choli. I thought of a sexy choli, leather choli. The season before that I did a ghagra with a leather choli. Then I thought, let me give her a white crisp shirt. We thought it's got to look Indian so gave it kaliras. It was Lisa Haydon who took the shirt and knotted it. I wanted the shirt to be tucked in and all buttons opened till the stomach with lots of jewellery. But she said, 'No, I want to do it this way'. She went in front of the mirror and knotted it up."

Queen of Kurti
Monisha was doing a beach range for a certain client and that's how the kurti came about. "I had 70s in my mind and I had revival of the retro in my mind and I had India in my mind. What was so big? Think Love Story's Ali MacGraw who wore 70s tunics with large floral prints, bell sleeves with flared trousers with leather fringing. I thought that'll be so good if I had to Indianise that. Let me make it completely like a kurta and give it Lucknowi elements and give it the same shape. It was actually a kurta which became a kurti but it had 70s vibe. It was an instant hit." Jaising introduced it at Ensemble here pairing it with a pair of raw silk capri pants. Then after a-year-and-a-half she showcased it at Lakme Fashion Week and that's when people wrote about it.

Mumbai vs Delhi retail
"Delhi buyer is very out there – she knows exactly what she wants and she is not afraid of wearing a particular look. The Mumbai buyer is very conservative – she still wants to feel comfortable and practical. Having said that, the world is becoming a smaller place, there's no Mumbai Delhi now and it's all about the global buyer."
She designs her bridal collection into separates. "You can wear leggings with a sherwani, a certain skirt with a crop top and a dupatta from somewhere. What I am noticing is that the young girl who's coming in wants to design her own lehenga. She doesn't want a lehenga set. She comes in, picks a lehenga and pair it with a separate dupatta in different colour. It's a contrasting print but who cares, it works. She's got that mindset. I see a lot of young girls – that are either brides or attending their friends' weddings or are going to a destination wedding. They come to me because they want to mix and match the whole look. They become the stylist themselves. I don't mind that. If I am buying Gucci, I won't be head-to-toe in Gucci, I'll wear it with Armani or a Benetton shirt. You are not supposed to buy the whole look the way it is."

Being a recluse

"I am a bit reserved. With close friends it's different of course. Otherwise, work is what gives me pleasure so I don't have to be at a party or a bar or a club. I like to work and in my free time, I like to travel. If I have got a weekend I'd rather travel than be in the city. I am a bit of a loner that way," she shares.

Bollywood catch-up

"Bollywood is important for everybody. It's like Hollywood. You saw the Grammys and the Oscars – everyone's on the red carpet, everyone's looking at what everyone's wearing. Earlier Bollywood stars were not that fit, now they are all hitting the gym. They are all super fit. They have stylists to assist them. A Bollywood star is a very stylish person, so why wouldn't I want her to wear something of mine."

My boys

"My boys – 17 and 19 always tell me – 'Mum, why don't you come up with a menswear line?' Sometimes they see me in a shirt with a little bit of bling on it and they are like, 'mom that's pretty cool, we could wear that. It's not too much and the fabric is actually nice'. Then I tell myself I should come up with a menswear line."

Work-life balance

"My kids have seen me work since the time they were born because I have been working for 25 years. While they were babies, they have seen me work at my workshop. They have been conditioned to a mom and dad working. It's the way of life and they don't know any better."

Designer I admire

"I used to follow Nicole Farhi's – she's an English designer - work. While studying in London, I used to appreciate her work a lot. As a student, I used to go to her store, feel the fabric and the cut."

Design over commerce

"A designer has a canvas and a collection of 40 to 50 pieces, so there will always be pieces which will do well and some that won't. It's never happened that all pieces have not done well. I still feel it's the most beautiful piece in the collection and I have not even sold one of it. It's never about commerce with me. It's always about the work. It's not that I have to be ahead of the game or have 20 stores. I may have only two stores. My contemporaries who started later than me may have 20 stores and I have one in Mumbai and one in Delhi. I have been here for 25 years and I have two stores that have some beautiful work in them.

As long as you do good work, there's a market. When you get too number-oriented, somewhere the product suffers. You could be the best designer, but you'll suffer you get commerce-centric. I have seen that happen. I don't want that too happen. That'll make me sad."