Fashionable love story

She loves the fluid flow of fabric. Dilnaz Karbhary has been in the fashion industry for almost 20 years and launched her label, also known as Dilnaz Karbhary, in January 2009. "Whether it is the kind of materials we use or the precision of our embroideries, I think my strength as a designer lies in the beauty, fit and quality of my creations. My clothing has old-world charm and romanticism, much of which has been lost in the times we live in, and I feel my clients are drawn to this,” asserts Karbhary. Several years earlier, she had applied for a course in design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York but had to cancel going due to her father’s ill-health. "Staying on in India, my blessing in disguise came in the form of ace couturier Tarun Tahiliani! He took me under his able wing and when I left Tahiliani Designs 15 fabulous years later (to start off on her own) it was as head of design, couture,” she narrates.
Her Dilnaz Karbhary Design Studio is situated at Andheri in Bombay. "Our work varies from couture for private clients or for the entertainment industry — in films, TV, advertising. My Studio dresses Farah Khan, director, for almost all her projects and mainstream actresses like Jacqueline Fernandez, Gul Panag and Katrina Kaif. There is also an occasional dabble in men’s wear with acclaimed actor Boman Irani. In my repertoire of film work I have worked for Bela Sehgal under the SLB Films banner for the Parsi romantic comedy Shirin Farhad ki to nikal padi and for exclusive scenes in Farah Khan’s Tees Maar Khan and Sajid Khan’s Housefull 2,” she describes. In TV advertising, she says, she has dressed Fernandez for the Lux campaign, Farah Khan for the "well received IPL (Indian Premier League) 2013 campaign, the Berger Paints 2014 calendar, etc. "I have also worked on TV shows like Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, Dance Ke Super Moms, Dance India Dance and special episodes of Koffee With Karan.”
Karbhary has found her forte in being a custom-made clothing designer. "One of the main areas of design for my studio is bridals and we actually sit with a client and totally soak in her wants, her needs, her dreams, her body type, and then I design to make her dream come true. I have a very able and committed team to assist me.” Of utmost importance is practicality. "We understand comfort and design around it. I mean it’s foolish in today’s day and age to pile so much embroidery on a garment that a client cannot move easily. Everyone wants to dance and have fun as well as look like a million bucks! So I’m more than happy to do that for them!”

Dilnaz Karbhary; (from left) ethnic, embroidered and western wear designs, film poster

With an experienced master cutter, skilled tailors and an in-house embroidery unit that does machine and hand embroidery all under one roof, 40-year-old Karbhary describes her approach to creativity: "Personally, I enjoy custom-made embroidered clothing very much. A garment, for example, can have a combination of machine and hand embroidery which creates something really unique. Nothing excites me more than creating fantasy! Being a fully romantic mush pot myself, my life gets entwined with my clients, making me a part of their love story! It’s very special when a groom comes up to me and tells me after he sees his bride that he thinks she is looking so exquisite that he would marry her a million times over in every lifetime! It’s the reason I come to my design desk every day. It is for this bond.” The label was re-branded two years ago as Dilnaz.
Karbhary says she particularly likes working with pure silk fabrics which can be dyed to the colors they want. "We can also ombre shade dye them (with the shades of color graduating from light to dark to give a dip-dye effect). You can create magic with shading! A big chunk of my work is custom-made clothing, so we work with an array of fabrics, depending on what a client wants. Sometimes we also source fun prints or exquisite laces. Today I see clients wear a lot more of what we call bling (shine) embroidery, at the same time there are clients who will never wear any form of bling, however subtle it is. Personally, I don’t subscribe to in-your-face bling. I like subtleness and more sophisticated bling. I think there are a whole bunch of designers who prescribe to this and thankfully clients who are still buying this.”

What about the affordability angle, we ask. "Anything customized, from a pizza to your bridal outfit, will cost more but it is always worth it as it is exactly what your heart desires. I cope with the competition by designing novel and very high quality clothing for my clients, by giving them something they can’t get elsewhere and opening up new possibilities. Like we have recently, on popular demand, started men’s wear as well,” she says. She meets clients by appointment at her Design Studio where they get to see the entire range. "I’ve never had the joy and I must say the privilege, considering our dwindling numbers, of fitting three Parsi brides (in November last year) back to back in a span of two days! This is a momentous weekend,” she bubbled with enthusiasm on her Facebook page.
The film medium, Karbhary believes, is particularly delightful to work for. "It challenges your creativity and you bring characters, so far on paper, alive with your design. I personally find it very interesting to research a look and really soak myself into the character, understand the director’s vision and create an interesting and new look,” she describes. For Farah Khan’s role in Shirin Farhad ki toh nikal padi which released in mid-2012, Karbhary says she lent authenticity to the wardrobe by visiting Parsi baugs (as she does not live in a baug herself), observing the dress sense of middle-aged Parsi women, poring over old Parsi magazines, etc. Playing with prints and combinations like gara embroidery on knits, she coutured naturalness and sophistication into Khan’s role of Shirin Fugawala, a soft-hearted, funny, slightly portly working woman whose love life takes off in her 40s.
Her mother Kamalrookh, asserts Dilnaz, is the wind beneath her wings! "She is the reason for where I am today. My father Maneckshaw Karbhary passed away in 1997. He was my rock, my teacher, my inspiration… He was with the Indian Air Force as a transport pilot and I am a proud fauji (military) kid! I owe a lot to my growing up years in the Air Force and I wish every child would be able to experience this.” Dilnaz also acknowledges her closeness to the rest of the family: "My brother Anoshak is my jaan and I can’t imagine my life without him. He is married to the lovely Nekshan and they have a daughter Tisthrya who is my laadkee! I left a well-paying and very satisfying job with Tarun Tahiliani Designs in Delhi and moved back to Bombay purely because I saw no reason to live alone in another city while my family lived here.” It was a tough decision as Tahiliani "is my mentor, besides being one of the kindest human beings in my life. It was the bravest and biggest thing I did.” Moving to Bombay brought her much closer to the Zoroastrian community. "I wish we don’t dwindle. I wish our community prospers. And honestly a lot of openness within the community is the way forward.”

The Karbhary family: Dilnaz, Kamalrookh, Anoshak, Nekshan and Tisthrya

The goal now is to be known "for the fineness of my clothing… I want my line to reach more and more people.” Karbhary also wants to encourage hand crafted heritage. "I think it’s a dying art in India and I want to bring that aesthetic back. I want to be a better person every day and while doing all this, I want to have the best time ever!”