With Love, From Awadh

In conversation with master couturier and cinema maker, Muzaffar Ali, on bridal weaves, craft traditions, and his muse of the moment, Huma Qureshi.

- Sanhati Banerjee

As Kotwara by Meera & Muzaffar Ali completes 25 years in the bridal fashion industry, we were tempted to speak to the creator Muzaffar Ali, who along with his wife, Meera Ali, have painted a colourful bridal landscape replete with dollops of heritage and dashes of glamour. Sama Ali, daughter of the duo, showcased the label’s latest collection at Lakmé Fashion Week, which was a contemporary take on bridal wear that springs out from the cobbled lanes of Awadh—the enduring muse at the heritage fashion house.

AS KOTWARA BY MEERA & MUZAFFAR ALI CONTINUES TO GAZE AT THE TIMELESSNESS OF TEXTILES AND INTRICACIES OF CRAFTS SUCH AS CHIKANKARI AND ZARDOZDI, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE KOTWARA BRIDE OF TODAY? 

The Kotwara bride of today is sensitive, far-sighted, and explorative in spirit. She participates in the joy of the process of self-discovery through age-old craft traditions such that her nostalgia for the past transforms into a real-time experience. And it does not end up freezing as an off the-shelf, well advertised, and copiously copied product.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON COMPLETING 25 YEARS AS BRIDAL FASHION DESIGNERS?