Shah Rukh Khan wears an era, a memory, a nation’s affection: Designer Anjali Phougat on the superstar’s timeless style
Shah Rukh Khan wears an era, a memory, a nation’s affection: Designer Anjali Phougat on the superstar’s timeless style
Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan has spent decades being celebrated not just for his films but also for the effortless charm and presence he brings to everything he wears. For fashion designer Anjali Phougat, however, his style goes far beyond clothes. “Style is not what you wear. Style is what the room feels when you enter it,” she says.That, she believes, is exactly what makes Shah Rukh different. His appeal cannot simply be recreated by putting him in an expensive suit or recreating one of his popular looks. “Shah Rukh Khan does not wear clothes. He wears an era, a memory, a nation’s affection,” she says.
For her, the clothes are only one part of the picture. The personality behind them is what makes the look work. “The garment is only the frame; his energy is the portrait,” she says.
That is also why she does not believe another actor could simply replicate Shah Rukh’s style by copying his wardrobe. “You can copy the suit, but you cannot copy the soul inside it,” she says.
When it comes to the silhouette she would choose for him, Anjali has a clear favorite. For her, nothing works quite as well on Shah Rukh as a bandhgala. “I look at the line of the shoulder and the honesty of the fabric. And on him, nothing beats the bandhgala,” she says.
She likes the way the traditional Indian silhouette can be given a modern, international finish. To her, it reflects the way Shah Rukh himself has managed to remain rooted while becoming a global star. “It is heritage standing tall in the modern world,” she says.
That idea also reflects Anjali’s own approach to design. She believes clothing becomes most powerful when it reflects the person wearing it. “When a man knows who he is, even simplicity looks like coronation,” she says.
Among Shah Rukh’s many on-screen looks, one film stands out immediately for her: Devdas.
“Devdas,” she says, adding, “In one film he wore grief in unstitched white and celebration in hand-embroidered gold.”
For Anjali, the costumes in the film did more than make the characters look striking. They became part of the emotional storytelling. “The costume understood what I have built my entire house upon. Clothes are emotions made visible,” she says.She feels Shah Rukh understood that relationship between the actor and the costume particularly well. “Most actors wear costumes. In Devdas, the clothes wore the story, and he let them,” she says.
For her, that ability to completely surrender to the character is what separates a performer from a true artist. “That surrender is the mark of a true artist,” she says.
Anjali has also had the opportunity to see Shah Rukh in person. She recalls a brief encounter at an airport, where she saw him alongside Katrina Kaif. “‘Mesmerizing’ is exactly the word,” she reveals, adding what stayed with her was not a grand gesture or anything particularly dramatic. It was the ease with which he carried himself.
“You can feel when a person carries their success lightly. There was no performance in him, only presence,” she says.
As a designer, she says she naturally notices small details. His posture and the way he interacted with someone he did not know were part of what made the moment memorable for her. “As a designer I notice everything. The ease of his posture, the warmth he gave a stranger’s moment,” she says.
The encounter left such an impression that she still thinks about it when she considers what makes Shah Rukh’s presence so distinctive. “Some people wear stardom like a costume. He wears it like skin,” she says.
If she ever got the opportunity to design something specifically for Shah Rukh, she already knows exactly what she would create. “A midnight-black bandhgala in silk-wool, grounding, powerful, unmistakably him,” she says.
But the real story would be in the embroidery. She imagines a constellation of gold zardozi stars running across one shoulder, with each star representing a year of Shah Rukh’s career.
“Each star marking a year, he taught India to dream. I would call it the King Constellation. He never needed a crown. So I would stitch his dreams back onto his shoulders instead,” Anjali concludes.
Shah Rukh Khan wears an era, a memory, a nation’s affection: Designer Anjali Phougat on the superstar’s timeless style
Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan has spent decades being celebrated not just for his films but also for the effortless charm and presence he brings to everything he wears. For fashion designer Anjali Phougat, however, his style goes far beyond clothes. “Style is not what you wear. Style is what the room feels when you enter it,” she says.That, she believes, is exactly what makes Shah Rukh different. His appeal cannot simply be recreated by putting him in an expensive suit or recreating one of his popular looks. “Shah Rukh Khan does not wear clothes. He wears an era, a memory, a nation's affection,” she says.
For her, the clothes are only one part of the picture. The personality behind them is what makes the look work. “The garment is only the frame; his energy is the portrait,” she says.
That is also why she does not believe another actor could simply replicate Shah Rukh's style by copying his wardrobe. “You can copy the suit, but you cannot copy the soul inside it,” she says.
When it comes to the silhouette she would choose for him, Anjali has a clear favorite. For her, nothing works quite as well on Shah Rukh as a bandhgala. “I look at the line of the shoulder and the honesty of the fabric. And on him, nothing beats the bandhgala,” she says.
She likes the way the traditional Indian silhouette can be given a modern, international finish. To her, it reflects the way Shah Rukh himself has managed to remain rooted while becoming a global star. “It is heritage standing tall in the modern world,” she says.
That idea also reflects Anjali's own approach to design. She believes clothing becomes most powerful when it reflects the person wearing it. “When a man knows who he is, even simplicity looks like coronation,” she says.
Among Shah Rukh's many on-screen looks, one film stands out immediately for her: Devdas.
“Devdas,” she says, adding, “In one film he wore grief in unstitched white and celebration in hand-embroidered gold.”
For Anjali, the costumes in the film did more than make the characters look striking. They became part of the emotional storytelling. “The costume understood what I have built my entire house upon. Clothes are emotions made visible," she says.She feels Shah Rukh understood that relationship between the actor and the costume particularly well. “Most actors wear costumes. In Devdas, the clothes wore the story, and he let them,” she says.
For her, that ability to completely surrender to the character is what separates a performer from a true artist. “That surrender is the mark of a true artist,” she says.
Anjali has also had the opportunity to see Shah Rukh in person. She recalls a brief encounter at an airport, where she saw him alongside Katrina Kaif. “‘Mesmerizing’ is exactly the word,” she reveals, adding what stayed with her was not a grand gesture or anything particularly dramatic. It was the ease with which he carried himself.
“You can feel when a person carries their success lightly. There was no performance in him, only presence," she says.
As a designer, she says she naturally notices small details. His posture and the way he interacted with someone he did not know were part of what made the moment memorable for her. “As a designer I notice everything. The ease of his posture, the warmth he gave a stranger's moment," she says.
The encounter left such an impression that she still thinks about it when she considers what makes Shah Rukh's presence so distinctive. “Some people wear stardom like a costume. He wears it like skin," she says.
If she ever got the opportunity to design something specifically for Shah Rukh, she already knows exactly what she would create. “A midnight-black bandhgala in silk-wool, grounding, powerful, unmistakably him,” she says.
But the real story would be in the embroidery. She imagines a constellation of gold zardozi stars running across one shoulder, with each star representing a year of Shah Rukh's career.
“Each star marking a year, he taught India to dream. I would call it the King Constellation. He never needed a crown. So I would stitch his dreams back onto his shoulders instead," Anjali concludes.
