New Delhi: Indian fashion designer Manish Malhotra has made his long-awaited Paris Fashion Week debut and the moment turned out to be as personal as it was culturally significant. His debut couture collection, titled “Maa,” was built as a tribute to motherhood. It was a meeting point of craftsmanship, sentiment, and the depth of Indian textile heritage.
The front row underscored just how far the moment had come: Anna Wintour, fashion’s most recognizable gatekeeper, sat alongside Isha Ambani, who wore a Manish Malhotra handmade gold couture gown.
Malhotra’s haute couture presentation, staged at Paris Haute Couture Week 2026, brought his signature maximalism and deeply–rooted Indian workmanship onto French couture’s most prestigious platform.
The collection leaned heavily on traditional Indian techniques, zardozi, hand embroidery, fine threadwork, worked into rich fabrics that showcased the same craftsmanship that has defined Malhotra’s work for decades.
The palette moved between deep jewel tones, soft pastels and metallic accents, each meant to capture a different dimension of motherhood. Staged against dramatic lighting and a striking red runway, the show carried an unmistakable sense of elegance throughout.
On Instagram, Malhotra wrote that the colours that defined his 1970s childhood were, quite simply, the colors of his mother’s saris. Over three decades into an artistic career built largely on quiet self-belief, Malhotra traced that confidence directly back to her.
“When I chose an unconventional path in the 80s, my mother never asked me to be certain. She simply believed in me. Sometimes, love is the greatest permission to dream,” he wrote.
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Leaning on faith
He further reflected on how that early faith carried through his career’s later chapters.
“In the 90s, as my world grew, I realised everything I set out to achieve carried a part of her with it. Success may have found me later, but her faith was where everything truly began,” the post read.
Janhvi Kapoor, who recently wore a Manish Malhotra sari to cousin Anshula Kapoor’s wedding reception, celebrated the occasion with a special message. Though Kapoor couldn’t attend the fashion show, she shared some photos of herself in that Manish Malhotra sari, saying, “Today, my godfather, my mentor, my guiding light, my safe space, and my most honest confidant, Manish Malhotra, makes his debut at Paris Couture Week.”
Kapoor expressed her admiration for Malhotra’s genius, creativity and passion. She said that she couldn’t be prouder to watch this milestone unfold.
“I know today’s collection is not only an extraordinary display of craftsmanship but also a deeply personal homage to the person who means the most to him – his mother. Cheering you on from home while you create magic in Paris,” she added.
The Paris debut lands as a defining chapter in Malhotra’s career that has shaped Indian fashion and costume design for years.
(Edited by Janaki Pande)