I meet Rhea at her tastefully done-up bungalow in Juhu on a sultry afternoon. The fiercely private and media-shy stylissma is warm, chatty and unassuming. Clad in a pair of comfy Zara pants " she is a far cry from the high-voltage, glamazon and often soul-searing looks she devises for sis Sonam. Rhea is as much clued into every fine detail of her daily work schedule as she is tuned into the Milan spring collections. The style, com-addict discusses the Prada spring line with a child-like enthusiasm. "The mural-inspired collection was outstanding. Miuccia is not afraid to show you literally what her inspiration is. She is daring and brave about it. If that seeps into Indian designers, we can do a lot because there is so much inspiration in this country. I am obsessed with her and want to buy the whole collection," she says breaking into laughter.
If today Sonam has put India on the global high fashion firmament then it's all thanks to Rhea's gimlet-eyed focus and acute involvement with every look of hers. Taking risks, using off-beat labels and promoting young and upcoming designers, this creative partnership between Rhea and Sonam has resulted in an array of stunning looks.
The sisters work in perfect sync. It's like two sisters entering a dress-up box and flirting with surreal fashion fantasies. The fashionista likes to mix haute couture and high street and has been collecting vintage clothes since she was 17. She just turned 26. "There is nothing like haute couture and it's my goal in life at some level to collect it. We have a whole collection but it's over the top."
Surrounded by beauty
Rhea grew up in a house which was a lot about expressing oneself. When your dad is one of the most revered deities in Bollywood, your mom is a fashion designer and you've grown up in a house where style and aesthetic are of exemplary importance, it's natural for you to get inspired. "We were surrounded by beautiful things. Our mom gave us a lot of knowledge about finer things " everything to do with antiques, jewellery, a beautiful shawl or zari so we grew up with that subconsciously."
Undiluted love for fashion
Rhea's love of fashion comes from her love of make-belief. "I was never really inspired that much by the fashion magazines as much by films, TV, the idea of persona and style. My love of fashion comes from the idea that it's wearable expression so it could be like a kiss or raising the middle finger. I love that. An outfit can tell you if someone's depressed or someone's happy. That's what I really love about fashion and I just feel that it's so liberating. That's where my inspiration comes from but my real love of putting stuff together came from my living by myself in New York," she says.
The NYC days
Rhea studied dramatic literature and later theatre at NYU. She found herself in this space where she was making all new friends and was exposed to this whole new life and a whole new way of thinking and behaving. "You feel so free that you can make a fool of yourself and you can do whatever you want. You can be as outrageous as you want or as subdued as you want. Anyway in Mumbai I don't really go out that much socially and I don't like to socialise too much here because of this idea of being Anil Kapoor's daughter. I feel stifled and I can't make mistakes. When you are young and when you are in your 20s that's something which you should be doing. You are supposed to be doing a lot of stupid stuff. Plus I was never comfortable in that scenario. When I was in New York, I came out of shell and I had a great time. I explored different parts of myself " do I want to be intellectual or do I want to be glamorous or do I want to be dramatic and in those four years I was everything. It was a lot of fun," she recalls with a twinkle in her eyes.
Sonam: my muse
Does she express her emotions through fashion? "I express myself a lot through my styling Sonam because she is like my muse." If Sonam is a fashion empire then Rhea is the architect of this success saga. From her Cannes looks to the everyday events Sonam attends " Rhea along with her girl gang (designer Anamika Khanna, stylist Tanya Ghavri and designer Shehla Khan) etches out each look to the last possible detail. "i envision something and Sonam has the opportunities to express that vision," says the stylist.
Creating the nath sensation
"The look (a strong modern warrior princess/goddess) we did with Anamika Khanna couture was there in my head for a year-and-a-half. I loved the idea of doing a coat with the sari. I saw this picture of Gayatri Devi. She was wearing a sari and a coat over her shoulders but it was like winter coat. That image was stuck in my brain and it was so beautiful. Now where the hell am I going to go with a sari, a coat and a train? And I was like, We should it for Cannes'. It wasn't like " we are trying to be so Indian. I was bringing sexuality into that look. I want to wear a nath for my wedding also even though I have dad's thin lips. I'll pull it off that day," she smiles.
Promoting young designers
"My larger than life like greed when it comes to fashion comes through Sonam. People are not used to seeing Bollywood actresses being represented in a strong way. My thing is, if you don't like it then don't wear it,' (laughs). I just feel that there is a constant pressure for women to look a certain way and because of that they'll never be able to express themselves. I am inspired by people like Daphne Guinness, Katherine Hepburn who take a chance and are ridiculed but they influence fashion. It's most iconic for you to influence fashion designers than the other way. When I style shoots for Sonam I very rarely use international fashion designers. I feel that there is so much talent here but there is not much investment in terms of finance so people don't have the material or means to take it internationally forward. But if we make it known then slowly it'll start pouring in. Whether it's Nikhil Thampi, Huemn, Shehla Khan, Dhruv Kapur or Kanika Saluja... if you give them a chance it'll surprise us."
Vision for Sonam
Was it a calculated strategy to morph Sonam into a style icon? "If we were so calculative we would have fallen on our faces because fashion is a very organic thing. Good fashion comes from emotion, it comes from joy and it comes from not giving a shit. If you look at the most inspiring people in the world of fashion, they don't just give a crap. We just want to have fun and whatever we do in fashion will be about that. I think if you try and make yourself iconic, you're going to make yourself ridiculous. Sonam and I never tried to do that. We look at fashion like other people look at art and music. Fashion allows you to explore different parts of yourself " whether I am feeling androgynous today or s**tty today. As a girl you should be able to be what you want and fashion gives you that power. Why not? I am so inspired by a lot of young and upcoming designers. They are doing some incredible work and those are the people I want to encourage the most. This medium of fashion makes you feel it's okay... whatever encourages you to be more of yourself is a fantastic thing. For women and gay men it's such an amazing thing because you are wearing it and walking out of the world and you are putting it on other people and they are wearing it and they are interpreting it themselves. When you talk about Maison Martin Margiela, you talk about that bejeweled mask and the statement he made with that. How can you not love it? I hope there are more people are like Vidya Balan and have guts to be themselves. I don't see much of that and that's why I find Vidya so inspiring. Kirron Kher is another person who is inspiring. I want to steal all of her saris. If people think Sonam is a fashionista, Kirron Kher is out-of-the-control amazing. I love everything about her. Rekha too doesn't give a shit. She's like I don't give a damn " whether this is Stardust award or Oscars " I will wear my Kanjeevaram. I find these women inspiring and not some mannequin who wears an outfit given by her stylist."
Do critics matter?
"I'd rather see Sujata Assomull or Bandana Tewari's opinion on it than some blog. I wanted to know what Anamika thought about the Dolce look and I had sent her a picture. When it comes to blogs, at some level, it's a little self destructive and venominous. There are comments like I am not feeling it.' Who told you to feel it? (laughs) This is just a dress I put on. You need to calm down. Tomorrow if I want to walk in hats and boots in Bandra, it's my problem and not yours. Rather than a blog judging what celebs wear, India needs a blog like The Devil Wore which celebrates real girls with street girls. I really like what Santu does at fashion week and captures these girls - chic junior editors. I feel a High Heel Confidential would have been far more interesting if it puts that into its blog as well so that it's no longer about celebrities. That's why people go to style.com... incredible articles by incredible writers, art events, parties... it's a 360 of fashion as an art. Today if a High Heel covers Kallol Datta's art exhibition, wouldn't that be so much interesting instead of them talking about how Sonam's shoe choice could be better?"
Personal style
Rhea used to wear heels to class in New York. "I used to wear 50s style dresses in class," she recalls breaking into laughter. "It's too humid in Mumbai and I am going from my house in my car to the office and back. Where do I go and dress up? In NYC your life is on a street and everyone's dressed up. Besides, I hate getting photographed. I feel at some level I have seen Sonam and my dad and so much attention... all the baggage and I am not a poser. I am uncomfortable. If someone is taping me at a party, I am comfy with it. When someone takes my picture I don't know what to do. It's a little awkward. I need to have at least two glasses of wine before I get my photo taken (laughs)."
Sonam's bikini shoot
"People think these are major decisions but they really are not. We looked at references and went ahead. I don't understand why actresses make such a big deal out of it. Maximum Sonam would say, Should I work out to be in a swimsuit?' Both of us are lazy, we love to eat and plonk ourselves after work. The shoot was like putting on an outfit and that's it."
No to acting
Like any youngster Rhea was confused and she didn't know what she wanted to do at the outset. She assisted on Wake Up Sid. I knew I wanted to do something creative... NYC had made me so free. When I saw the role which actors play... I was like hell no! That's not going to happen. I am too much of a control freak and I need to be there from the beginning to the end. I would not be okay with someone cutting my preference or changing the film. I would not be able to sleep in the night. I can't constantly be conscious of myself and care so much about myself. I find it exhausting that actors have to constantly think about themselves. My skin. My hair. My sleep.. It's not interesting to me and I generally don't care. I would hate to be talking or thinking about myself all the time. So I don't think my personality type was in tune. And thank god at 21 I was wise enough to make that decision. I would've been miserable in this industry because it's an awful place for a girl. It's just bad. You can't express yourself and you can't be crazy and do whatever you want. This place is so sexist and makes me sick. I am always going to make films about women. People may find it obnoxious but I will do it. I am really proud of Aisha. I know that world and I know it exists and I am happy with the way we represented it. "
Rockstar parents
"I give styling inputs to dad but he has a selective hearing (laughs)... now I obviously put his clothes together a lot more. My mom is very chic. Mom loves clothes and they both love fitness. And they are obsessed. All my knowledge about jewellery and Indian clothes comes from my mom. I feel to a certain extent she also had a willingness to take the risk. My nani told me she used to wear neon yellow halters in BEST buses in the 70s and 80s. My mom and father have no social lives at all. They don't drink or eat very little and they make us feel guilty about eating and drinking. My mom eats a little salad and soup and my dad has a grilled fish and they go to sleep by 10.15. God! So boring."
No filmy friends
"I have super close friends. Both Sonam and I have no filmy friends besides of course if we've made friends with some actors or directors. Our school friends are still our friends. I chill with my friends in my pyjamas, we go out for dinners and eat a lot. We go out clubbing once in three months. Sonam and I let a very few people into friends' circle and when we do they stay for life. We tell them everything and they tell us everything. It's a very sacred age group. Having friends who tell you, now you are acting retarded or I didn't like that film or you shouldn't do that,' even if they are wrong but at least they are being honest with you. You have to strike a balance."
manish.mishra@dnaindia.net |
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