Abu Jani: News

Abu Jani is amongst the well-known names in the fashion industry. He works along with fashion designer Sandeep Khosla. He has also worked and assisted famous designer Xerxes Bhartena for five years. In his early career, he designed costumes for Alyque Padamsee's musical ‘Evita.’ In 1986, he met Sandeep Khosla. In the same year, he and Khosla launched their first boutique, Mata Hari, in Mumbai. In 1987, he launched Ensemble, India’s first couture store in Mumbai along with Khosla, and designer Tarun Tahiliani. In 1995, Jani and Khosla represented their collection at Roosevelt house, which is the residence of the US Ambassador in New Delhi, thus becoming the first Indian fashion designers to do so. Apart from this, they have also designed costumes for major fashion events such as Lakme Fashion Week. Jani has also served as the creative director of Lakme Fashion House. In 2008, he and Khosla hosted the show ‘The First Ladies with Abu Sandeep,’ which featured Jaya Bachchan, Nita Ambani, and Maharani Padmini Devi among others. The duo had also designed the engagement dress of industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani. They have also designed costumes for several Bollywood movies such as ‘Devdas,’ and ‘Veere Di Wedding.’ In 2003, Jani and Khosla were conferred with the National Film Award and IIFA award for best costume design for ‘Devdas.’ In 2011, Jani was conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award at the Marie Claire fashion awards for his contribution to the fashion industry.