DESIGN ENTERPRISE & INNOVATION

Today marks the first day of my Industry placement. I'm lucky enough to intern in my home town Mumbai, India. Starting today I'm a design intern for the incredible, Manish Malhotra. As soon as I set foot into the office, I was introduced to the supervisors and the fellow interns. To start off easy on the first day I got given a research task to make mood boards and find imagery to present for a lavish wedding in December. The best part about it was that there's no budget. So I was told to think as big and Bollywood as I possibly could.

If there's anything you need to know about India, its that we love our weddings. Wedding season is the most awaited season and designers like Manish Malhotra are what make it great. He's primarily known for his bridal couture and how he never fails to help actresses/ socialites look as glamourous as possible. So as soon as I heard the wedding brief I knew it was serious.

The brief stated:

-Ultra Luxury

-Expensive

-Rich Looking

-Innovative

-Unique

-Lavish

-Decadent

Basically, everything Manish Malhotra is loved and known for.

Intially I wanted to go as quirky and unconventional as possible, with rickshaws showered with marigold flowers and bright fun fair themed decor to truly incorporate the Bollywood vibe:

It was important to realise that I was planning according to the Client's wants and not my own.

On further reading Mr Malhotra's notes, I was made aware of the fact that the idea was to make it as minimal and classy as possible. The vibe was 'crystal wedding'. This meant crystals (obviously) pearls, mirror work, etc. The reason the wedding was more on the neutral side, colour wise was because it would help the bride and groom to stand out. In Indian weddings, the brides traditionally wear red, which will undoubtedly stand out in a winter wedding.

It was so interesting to see how there was a whole theme to the wedding and how every decision is meant to compliment the bride and groom (naturally, since it is their special day). When it comes to Indian weddings, a lot of energy is spent on figuring out how the bride and groom enter. This is a ceremonial tradition.

I ended up pinning a few ideas for reference : Pinterest

The idea behind this wedding is to almost merge the classic "white wedding" and "big fat indian wedding" The task isn't as urgent at the moment so it was a relaxed day.

I got told that tomorrow we were going to be digitally designing textiles for sari's using photoshop! It's only been one day but I feel like I'm living my Bollywood dream!

#manishmalhotra #internship #day1 #wedding #crystal