Sonam

Actress Sonam Kapoor may have received a lot of praise for her red carpet debut at Cannes, but her sari avatar was met with mixed response on home turf.

Kapoor wore a black and white polka dotted sari with a black silk blouse, with full sleeves and an open back. Young fashion designer Masaba Gupta, who designed the ensemble, defends her creation saying that it was praised by the foreign media.

“For starters, I didn’t expect her Indian fans to like the ensemble at all. So whatever brickbats we received was less compared to what I expected,” laughs Masaba. Not one to mince words Masaba adds, “The fact remains that the Indian audience doesn’t understand Indian wear that lacks embroidery or sequins. Honestly, I’ve seen what our actors wore to Cannes before and they were disastrous — barring Sabyasachi’s design for Aishwarya (he had dressed her in a net sari with an embellished blouse).”

The young designer, however, is elated that her design was spotted at the international film festival. “I realise that it takes designers decades to get someone to wear their creations at international platforms and here a fashion icon decided to sport my creation. I’m flattered, of course!” she says beaming. 
Ask her as to why did Sonam pick an Indian outfit for Cannes and Masaba says that making a desi statement was a conscious decision on the actors part.