It seemed strangely befitting to see Payal Kapadia on the Golden Globes red carpet wearing Payal Khandwala, representing her movie, ‘All We Imagine As Light’. As a director, Kapadia captured the everyday struggle of women trying to make a home for themselves in the bustling city of Mumbai. As a designer, Khandwala has mentioned Mumbai and its intersection of art and culture as a major inspiration. Worlds apart in their creative journey, but tied together in their pursuit of reimagining the female portrayal in their respective fields, the synergy between the two made the curious fashion journalist in me sit back and take a moment to reflect when I first encountered the look. 

Styled by Indrakshi Pattanaik, who is primarily a costume designer and not a celebrity stylist per se, Payal Kapadia’s appearance at the Golden Globes, is one that made a distinctive mark. The authenticity of who Payal Kapadia is: a director who stood by her activism, stayed grounded in the reality of the lived experiences of the millions that moved to the so-called ‘City of Dreams’, and found recognition via a platform as big as Cannes is something that perhaps someone close to her could truly capture. When she was talking to me about working with Kapadia, I noticed that Indrakshi Pattanaik was all candour and no fuss. She emphasised that the team from Chalk & Cheese, the producers of All We Imagine As Light, its Cinematographer and Kapadia’s partner Ranabir Das, and Payal Kapadia were all friends and that the intention with which she approached styling Kapadia was to help a brilliant, talented friend look and feel the most confident in herself. 

“I am not a celebrity stylist, but it is a serious business,” explains Indrakshi. “What I do occasionally is help as a personal stylist to friends because I feel like I can. Some women really need help understanding where to shop for themselves, what brand suits them, what aligns with them, or what fits work for them, because they are busy being brilliant women. I didn’t do this from a professional perspective, but I did bring in my experience and I think it helped her. It was a chance for me to help a dear friend dress in a way that reflected their personality, in a moment that was historic in her life. It was also a historic moment for Indian Cinema as a whole.”

The world of movies is often associated with glitter and glamour, but journalist Kim Knight mentioned how “not all nominees wear capes and gowns” in honour of Payal Kapadia’s look at the Golden Globe and that is perhaps the most befitting way to dub the look. The look styled for Kapadia by Indrakshi was understated and that itself was perhaps its biggest victory. It was true to both Kapadia’s personal and professional motivations as a non-conformist, subversive female movie-maker. Indrakshi noted that there was an intrigue to styling a female filmmaker such as Payal, approaching it almost as she does with her costume styling; by looking at the character of the person she was styling. In working with Kapadia, she wasn’t changing her, but rather helping her create a look that was true to who she was as a person. 

In an industry where everyone tries to outshine each other with big stories, meaty tropes and even bigger casting, All We Imagine As A Light’s success was in focusing on the struggles of everyday working-class people; a story that could be seen in any city in the world. But if you’ve lived in Mumbai, you’d understand the unique kind of pressure it puts on you to believe in the magic of the struggle. But the choice of outfit for Payal Kapadia, an ensemble by Payal Khandwala, was functional, androgynous, polished, yet detailed with specifically Indian handwork. It was rooted in Mumbai but meant for a global customer: true creative synergy. 

When Indrakshi started talking to Kapadia about styling her, she had thought Kapadia would want her to help with bigger brands. But instead, what she wanted was to work with brands that are not typically the go-to choices on the big red carpets. If at Cannes she wore Maku textiles, she wanted to wear another label that she could see herself associating with at the Golden Globes. 

Indrakshi went on to mention, “I realised that for Payal, it was about what the brand is doing and what the brand stands for, and Payal Khandwala was one of her favourite choices. She particularly likes their designs. I honestly feel Payal Kapadia would be the perfect model for Payal Khandwala if she ever casts real people and not models for her shoots. She also loved the fact that there was a masculinity in the otherwise feminine fits, with clean cuts and lines. So it felt like the perfect combination.”

In pulling the whole look together, Indrakshi also wanted to make sure that Payal Kapadia didn’t have to deal with the trouble of putting a complex look together or make her uncomfortable, as she wouldn’t be there in person. So the look they’d finalised from Payal Khandwala was something fuss-free, and even the draped detail was something Kapadia herself could put on easily. The hint of red that detailed the neckline of the otherwise monochromatic Black Matka Silk jumpsuit brought the look together and was an intentional choice. 

“I really liked the touch of red; the movie has that colour everywhere,” says Indrakshi. “I feel that red also symbolises many other aspects that she brings out in the film. You see it in her colour palette and also in the Artists4Ceasefire ring that she wore. It was a really important way for her to use the platform she had and it really worked with the look.”

Indrakshi talked about how she’s worked with Payal Kapadia to pick out other looks for her future appearances, specifically from smaller, homegrown brands whose work is meaningful and which Kapadia finds resonance with. “After the Golden Globes, she’d be happier with similar smaller, and independent brands — brands which are giving back and practising slower fashion. It wasn’t about the brand for her, it was about what fit her well as a person and the brands that I took to her were only those that she felt she could associate herself with from a value perspective.” 

Follow Indrakshi Pattanaik here.

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