Where was the Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla 40th anniversary event held?

It was held at Mubarak Baug, the designers' newly opened 20,000-square-foot flagship store located at the historic Framjee Cawasjee Institute in South Mumbai.

What traditional Indian craft techniques were featured during the event?

The couture showcased high-level craftsmanship, including hand-embroidered Lucknow Chikankari, Multicoloured Resham, silver Vasli, Marodi, Zardozi, and velvet appliqué work.

How did the event showcase the label's history alongside contemporary fashion?

The celebration featured 50 models performing flash mobs across the store, including its Archival Museum, while guests wore pieces inspired by iconic past collections like 'Kitsch' and 'A Thousand & One Nights'.

What were the standout celebrity outfits at the celebration?

Sonam Kapoor wore a 48-kali ivory Chikankari Angrakha that took 20 months to hand-embroider, while Navya Nanda wore a recreation of the gold-coin "Kamasutra" dress originally worn by her mother, Shweta Bachchan.

Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla celebrate 40 years with a maximalist fashion spectacle at Mubarak Baug

AJSK marked 40 years with a grand show at Mubarak Baug, featuring flash mobs and star muses like Sonam Kapoor and Nita Ambani in iconic archival couture.

Published on: Sep 8, 2026, 15:00:25 IST

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Forty years in fashion called for something bigger than a conventional anniversary party, and Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla delivered exactly that. The designer duo marked four decades of their eponymous label with a maximalist celebration at Mubarak Baug, their newly opened flagship in South Mumbai, bringing together some of their most celebrated muses, friends and clients for an evening of couture, craftsmanship and theatrical fashion.

Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla celebrate 40 years with a maximalist fashion spectacle at Mubarak Baug

By Samarpita Yashaswini

Samarpita Yashaswini is a Content Producer for Fashion (HT Shop Now) at Hindustan Times Digital. She has five years of experience in lifestyle writing, specialising in fashion, beauty, and trend-led commerce content. She covers everything from seasonal must-haves and wardrobe essentials to brand reviews and styling edits that make everyday dressing easier and more exciting.

She began her writing journey in 2020, but her love for fashion started long before that. Over the years, she has interned with Times Internet and Desi Martini, and worked with Pinkvilla and Schbang, building a strong foundation in digital storytelling and audience-first content. At HT Digital, she writes and creates fashion affiliate content for both the website and social media, blending trend awareness with shopping practicality. Her work sits at the intersection of style and strategy combined with equal parts aesthetic and analytics.

A self-confessed fashion enthusiast, Samarpita has a sharp eye for colours, prints, silhouettes, and textures. She notices the fall of a fabric, the mood of a palette, and the difference a good cut can make. Her expertise lies in translating trends into wearable, relatable style and helping readers shop smarter, not louder.

She studied at Delhi Public School and graduated from Miranda House, University of Delhi in 2019, where she also wrote for the college magazine. She later completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Advertising and PR from MICA, Ahmedabad.

Samarpita believes fashion content doesn’t need to be complicated or overly eloquent. It should be simple, fun, and genuinely helpful, guiding readers through daily style decisions with confidence and joy.

A star-studded celebration of AJSK couture

The anniversary brought together a formidable list of Bollywood stars, fashion personalities and the designers' longtime friends and clients, many of whom arrived dressed in Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla creations.

Dimple Kapadia, Sonam Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor, Genelia Deshmukh, Riteish Deshmukh and Navya Nanda were among the celebrities who turned up in the designers' creations. Nita Ambani, Isha Ambani, Shloka Ambani and Radhika Ambani also made striking appearances in Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla ensembles, accessorised with maximal pieces from Iconic Jewels.

For the anniversary celebration, the couture wasn't merely about dressing celebrities. It served as a showcase of the design language that has defined the house for four decades: intricate hand embroidery, dramatic silhouettes, Indian craftsmanship and an unapologetically opulent approach to fashion.

Dimple Kapadia, who has become closely associated with the designers' aesthetic, served as one of the evening's standout muses. She wore a front-open khadi coat with a sari from the 'Do Rukha' range, featuring intricate multicoloured Resham embroidery. The look was completed with jewellery from the designers' Iconic Jewels collection.

Sonam Kapoor brought another archival-inspired moment to the celebration. She wore a 48-kali ivory Chikankari Angrakha that had been hand-embroidered in Lucknow over 20 months by an all-female artisan team. The elaborate garment featured intricate Jaali motifs, large borders and tassels, with crystals, pearls, sequins and gold and silver bugle beads adding to its ornate finish. She paired the Angrakha with two dupattas and statement paan-motif earrings from Iconic Jewels.

Nita Ambani, Isha Ambani and Neetu Kapoor bring the drama

Nita Ambani chose a majestic maroon ensemble for the occasion, wearing a pure chiffon sari featuring a handcrafted velvet appliqué border arranged in geometric motifs. The sari was paired with a coordinating blouse covered in an all-over trellis pattern.

Isha Ambani Piramal embraced the house's maximalist aesthetic in a halter corset jacket with an ankle-length skirt. The ensemble featured multiple geometric Jaali motifs embroidered by hand with pearls, crystals and bugle beads.

Neetu Kapoor opted for an off-white cape from the 'Rubaan' range, hand-embroidered with satin ribbons arranged into floral motifs and embellished with tiny pearls. She finished the look with emerald earrings from the Iconic Jewels collection.

Asha Parekh also celebrated the occasion in classic AJSK glamour, wearing a pastel green sari intricately hand-embroidered in silver Vasli and Resham. Silver tikkis and a handwoven scalloped lace added further detail to the look.

Navya Nanda, meanwhile, revisited a piece of fashion history. She wore a recreation of the 'Kamasutra' dress, originally worn by her mother, Shweta Bachchan. Inspired by Indian temple jewellery, the dramatic dress features thousands of gold coins hand-sewn onto the fabric.

From archival couture to contemporary maximalism

The anniversary looks also demonstrated how Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have continued to reinterpret their own archives.

Kusha Kapila arrived in an archival gown from the 'Kitsch' collection, hand-embroidered in Multicoloured Resham and finished with sequins and beads. Genelia Deshmukh wore a Marodi ensemble comprising a circular organza kurta and a Khada Hyderabadi Jamdani dupatta, with embroidery incorporating gold Dori, Vasli, Gota and sequins.

Natasa Stankovic opted for a look from the 'A Thousand & One Nights' collection, featuring Madras Checks reimagined through the designers' maximalist lens and embellished with Zardozi embroidery.

Pinky Reddy's ensemble offered perhaps the most literal tribute to Mumbai. Her couture featured an intricately embroidered architectural view of the city's skyline, created with gold sequins and stonework. The design drew inspiration from the 'Bombay Skyline' brass installation at Mubarak Baug.

Sanjay Reddy also wore a custom Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla creation inspired by the flagship itself. His black shirt featured hand-embroidered gold appliqué and metallic beads, recreating the mythic swans seen on Mubarak Baug's maximalist ceiling.

Mubarak Baug: the new home of AJSK's maximalist universe

The celebration was particularly significant because Mubarak Baug itself recently opened its doors as Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla's new flagship store, coinciding with the house's 40th brand anniversary.

Located at the historic Framjee Cawasjee Institute in South Mumbai, the 20,000-square-foot space was conceived as an extension of the designers' imagination. Designed by A Wonder Room, Abu and Sandeep's interior design vertical, the flagship brings together fashion, heritage, art and Indian craftsmanship in an elaborate setting.

The space also houses the Vault, where Iconic Jewels, the designers' recently launched jewellery collection, is displayed.

Four decades of preserving Indian craftsmanship

The anniversary is also a milestone for a label that has built much of its identity around India's rich embroidery traditions. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have spent four decades transforming techniques such as Chikankari, mirror work, Multicoloured Resham and Vasli into elaborate couture creations.

Their approach has consistently combined traditional craftsmanship with an extravagant contemporary aesthetic, helping position Indian embroidery as a form of couture artistry rather than simply ornamentation.

Reflecting on the milestone, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla said that being untrained had given them the freedom to believe that nothing was impossible. For the designers, the 40th anniversary is ultimately a celebration of that belief, and of the clients, friends, artisans and supporters who have been part of their journey.

With Mubarak Baug now serving as a physical expression of that four-decade legacy, the anniversary celebration brought the story full circle: archival creations, contemporary couture, longtime muses and a new generation of fashion personalities all sharing the same maximalist stage.