After a hiatus of three years, the Animal Ball, one of London's most acclaimed charity fundraisers, was held at the gardens of the Lancaster House on June 28. This year's guest list was led by famed Indian designers, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Anita Dongre and Manish Malhotra, who represented India at the ball. King George and Queen Camilla were also in attendance as was the brother of the latter, Mark Shand, who founded the charity, called Elephant Family. Marked as a celebration of indigenous communities, including life-sized elephant sculptures as the backdrop, the gala event was attended by the who's who of London high society, all bedecked in outfits and sustainable animal masks from the world's leading couture houses. The Indian designers were tapped to create animal-themed masks for the ceremony, which would resonate with their design sensibilities and put forth the cratsmanship of Indian design houses. Take a look at what they created for the 13th edition of the Animal Ball. Sabyasachi View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sabyasachi (@sabyasachiofficial) Paying homage to the majestic Bengal tiger- India's national animal, which is also synonymous with his brand identity - Mukherjee created a hand-made mask by using age-old Indian artisanal techniques. The artists from his Sabyasachi Art Foundation and craftspersons from Bengal collaborate to formulate the mask. Designed keeping in mind elements of the Sabyasachi atelier, the mask was in a classic animal print and featured signature hand embroidery techniques, called Aakash-Tara, meaning 'the stars in the sky.' Manish Malhotra View this post on Instagram A post shared by Manish Malhotra (@manishmalhotra05) Malhotra took to Instagram to talk about his creation, The Maharaja Mask, for the ball. As the Indian lion is a symbol of "strength" and "paragon", the mask is a testament to preserving Indian craftsmanship, as a lion would preserve his jungle. Anita Dongre View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anita Dongre (@anitadongre) Dongre's Panchhi Mask is an homage to the parrot, a bird prominently found in Pichvai paintings of India. Since 1972, the bird has been in the endangered list across the world but remains safeguarded in India. The mask was created with cruelty-free plant leather, and hand-painted in Pichwai, a technique that goes back to 400 years. The King and Queen awarded Kartiki Gonsalves, of The Elephant Whisperers fame, with the Tara Award for her work on the Oscar-winning documentary. They also awarded members of the Adivasi tribal community from the Nilgiri Moutains of India with the Elephant Family's Mark Shand Award for protecting Asian wildlife. 📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don't miss out on the latest updates!
