INDIA: Maya Debuts In Mumbai

With the glittering fashion show at Taj Lands End, Bandra on April 9, ‘Maya’ by Sajjid Khan made its debut in Mumbai.

Seen enjoying the evening were celebrities like Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta, Tusshar Kapoor, Karan Johar, Rocky S, Gauri Khan, Pooja Bedi, Neelam Kothari, Rita Dodhy, Ash Chandler, Gurinder Chaddha, Marc Robinson, Kelly Dorjee, Simone Singh & Fahad Samar, Devika and Suresh Bhojwani, Nitasha Nanda, Sanjay Narang, Lubna Adams, Laila Khan and Seema Khan amongst others.

The evening showcased a menswear collection by Manish Malhotra and a womenswear and menswear collection by Anjali Kalia. Manish Malhotra and Anjali Kalia are the two designers who have been chosen by Maya, to create highly individualistic and creative lines for the label.

Maya, established by Sajjid Khan of the Saks Group of Companies has its design studio based in New Delhi. The fashion label had made its debut in New Delhi in October 2003 to critical acclaim and commercial success.

Maya caters to the modern Indian sensibility. Going ahead the label will use the talents of a host of designers who will create under the ‘Maya’ philosophy which is to bring sub continental sensibilities to the fore and design clothes that intrinsically draw inspiration from the rich, historical and varied traditions of Indian design.

Maya will create both men’s wear and women’s wear and will be retailed in all the major cities in the country at leading fashion stores. Among the prestigious retail outlets that already carry the label are Ogaan in New Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta, Designer Studio in Mumbai, Amethyst in Chennai, Elahe in Hyderabad and Espee in Calcutta.

Maya plans to set up stand-alone stores in all the major metros of the country over the next year. After Maya is established in India it will be launched in the leading fashion capitals of the world including Paris, London, New York and Tokyo.

Speaking on the occasion, Sajjid Khan, Managing Director of the Saks Group of Companies that owns the ‘Maya’ label, said, “I feel that justice was not being done to the purity of Indian design in the country. I decided to launch Maya to showcase the beauty of Indian sensibility and fashion. The clothes that will be created by our design team will attempt to find its inspiration from the history of India and everything that is beautiful about our country.

We will cater to the discerning, modern Indian man and woman who know that their country has a past of sophisticated fashion that is relevant even today. We will draw on the diversity of heritage of the many states of India for our thoughts and ideas.”

In his first collection for Maya, Manish Malhotra one of India’s foremost fashion designers and the country’s leading costume designer has created a summer wear line for men. The clothes are constructed in cotton – the ultimate fabric for summer. The feel is light and airy. Manish has used a festival of colours to bring life to this line for Maya by Sajjid Khan. The palette includes pinks, powder blues, lime greens, fuchsia and many more shades that represent brightness. He has deliberately avoided whites and beiges, which are the conventional colours of the hot season. The line is young and happy and brings forth the feeling and mood of holidays. 

The line includes shirts, drawstring trousers, and capris, among other garments. There are patterns of flowers and a mixing of colours. The effect is that of vitality and life under a bright, bright sun.
Anjali Kalia has a designed a collection for women and men. Her works reflect the experience, thought and research of a talent that has immersed herself in all that is Indian.  The detailing of the embroidery, the thoughtful embellishment of the garments, the selection of specially designed and woven fabrics and the marriage of colours all show a thinking designer at work. Anjali has further demonstrated her ability to contemperarize the ancient into the modern by her use of original and historical artistic motifs on her creations. Among these are the lotus, the fish, mehandi chappas and Hindi Akshars.

The clothes are constructed in mostly Indian fabrics such as cotton, mattka, muslin, and chanderi. These have been screen-printed, block printed, stained, crushed and bleached. The palette of colours is wide with an emphasis on natural dyeing. The predominant shade in this collection is ‘indigo’.

There is a wide array of garments that include simple tee shirts, embroidered corsets, saris, kurtas, skirts, wrap arounds, and heavily embellished lehangas.  The clothes though stunning in their individuality are also versatile. The saris can be teamed with corsets and the wrap rounds with Indian blouses. Anjali’s collection has universal appeal and caters to the needs of women from every age group and of any nation.

The lines that make up the collections on show are representative of the very best in design talent that this country has to offer. The attempt has been to create clothes that make the any individual anywhere in the world look exceptional without too much effort.

April 12, 2004