My first break

Fashion designer Manish Malhotra unveils his new collection for the festive season, at Reverie, tomorrow. Run in partnership with Avanti ...

Fashion designer Manish Malhotra unveils his new collection for the festive season, at Reverie, tomorrow. Run in partnership with Avanti Birla and Kajal Anand, the Napean Sea Road store opened to rave reviews and if you see empty racks it is just that people are buying his stuff as soon as it is put on hangers. But being a couturier was not easy for this self-trained designer. Thirty-one years old, Manish began his career working in a boutique in Bandra, over seven years ago. quot;At that time there were no fashion schools in the city, in fact, NIFT had just opened in Delhi and I could not afford to go aboard to study,quot; he says.

But staying desi worked in his favour. The then queen of Bollywood, Sridevi, ran into Manish and asked him to design clothes for a Telegu film she was starring in with actor Chiranjeevi. quot;I did the clothes for just one song 8212; at that time I had not heard of Chiranjeevi. I never even realised that he was the number one Telugu film hero,quot; he says. And Manish can never forget the outfitshe designed loud, flamboyant and full of tassels. Here again, Sridevi lent a helping hand and introduced him to filmi fashions.

Though Manish has a lot to thank Sridevi for, she was not the first actress he worked with. quot;I made some clothes for Divya Bharti but the film which we were working on was shelved,quot; says he. But the Bollywood connection stayed. His cousin sister8217;s husband is director David Dhawan and through her he met Divya and later, Sridevi.

After his first foray, Manish suddenly found he had become hot property in tinsel town, and began designing for Sunny Deol, Shilpa Shirodkar and a host of other stars. quot;When I started designing for Sridevi, who was the happening actress then, everyone suddenly wanted to know who I was,quot; he says. And till today, he designs all of Sridevi clothes. quot;She still looks fabulous and after marriage is slimmer than ever before. I keep telling her that she must get back to films,quot; he says.