Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL) has agreed to invest in the country’s foremost couturiers Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla (AJSK) for a 51% stake, continuing its shopping spree for homegrown fashion labels that saw it set up a joint venture with designer Rahul Mishra earlier this year.
Known as “the boys", designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have been responsible for bringing crafts such as chikankari, zardozi, and crushed bandhani back to the forefront of fashion. In their 35-year-long journey, they have dressed many celebrity brides, including Shweta Bachchan and Tanya Godrej, and won the National Costume Design Award for their work in the film Devdas in 2003.
Their pieces were part of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s 2015 exhibition, The Fabric of India. They used to have a store in London’s Knightsbridge and have retailed out of Harrods and Bergdorf Goodman’s.
Having worked on the James Bond film The World is Not Enough in 1999, they have dressed several national and international celebrities—from Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sonam Kapoor to Dame Judi Dench and Beyonce.
“Twisting the old to create with brand new eyes is their gift," said Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, the holding company of all retail ventures of Reliance Industries Ltd.
“Teaming up with India’s foremost couturiers, who hold an unparalleled position in Indian fashion for their impossibly fine craftsmanship and impeccable attention to detail, techniques and embroideries, is thrilling, as it allows us to build a stronger platform for their zealous commitment to reinvention of Indian craft."
Like her mother, Nita Ambani, Isha is a fan of AJSK and wore an AJSK hand-embroidered lehenga for her wedding in 2019.
Over the past year, RBL, which has tie-ups with over 60 international brands, including Tiffany’s, Giorgio Armani and Burberry, has focused on Indian fashion labels.
It started last year when the company acquired Ritu Kumar and announced a 40% stake in Manish Malhotra, Bollywood’s go-to designer. The portfolio also includes Anamika Khanna’s prêt line AK-OK which marries Indian silhouettes with streetwear, a 60:40 joint venture with Rahul Mishra to start a ready-to-wear line soon, and a majority stake in Abraham and Thakore.
Explaining why it took so long for AJSK to tie up with Reliance, given the designers’ close relationship with the Ambanis, Abu Jani said: “This venture is just the latest evolution of a relationship we have cherished for more than 30 years. Given our long history together, it was important that we do this right, not in a rush. It is a decision which comes with full faith, confidence and commitment to each other and a shared mission to write new history and aim for higher heights."
RBL president and chief executive officer Darshan Mehta, who first met the designer-duo a decade ago, said putting together the deal took nine months. “As they say, you cannot hurry love; it takes time. We don’t want to trespass through any corporate muscle. If I were in either Abu or Sandeep’s shoes…to allow an outsider into a company I have nurtured for 35 years, and that has my name on it…is not an easy leap of faith."
For many years, the duo has spoken of the need for Indian fashion to gain corporate investment. “We aren’t businessmen; we are artists. Partnering with Reliance Brands will allow us to focus on creative expansion and excellence while they steer the brand and its labels to greater reach and optimal size, with their business savvy and expertise," said Sandeep Khosla.
Referring to the investments in labels by corporates such as Reliance and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (which has stakes in Sabyasachi, Shantanu and Nikhil, Tarun Tahiliani, and Masaba), Khosla believes a new chapter is being written in Indian fashion. “It is the only way forward to grow exponentially—the only way to explore every opportunity and achieve optimal size. Corporate investment is a must to compete globally and expand one’s reach and offering," he said.
