“I am clear about my comfort zone and I also like to balance my work with travel. I feel that for a person to evolve, it’s crucial to travel.”
Being the ultimate fashion director of India’s leading fashion publication, that is Vogue India, Anaita has always been way ahead of the curve. Her prolific body of work as a fashion director has inspired a whole generation of fashion enthusiasts to step into the world of glamour and style. Her elite clientele comprises of all the heavy-weight Bollywood superstars. From the iconic looks she curated for Deepika Padukone in the movie ‘Cocktail’ which sky-rocketed her position as a fashion-forward movie star to the drastic, makeover she gave the vivacious Katrina Kaif in ‘Dhoom 3’ which revamped her image overnight. Apart from styling for magazine covers, editorials, red-carpets and advertising campaigns, Shroff-Adajania also has her own styling company called the Style Cell. As we talk about fashion, who better than the ultimate fashion maven to grace the January cover of The Peacock Magazine. In a detailed interview, she talked about all things fashion today, while hitting a nostalgic cord by describing an era in fashion before it was digitalized.
1) HOW IS IT DIFFERENT TO STYLE IN A PUBLICATION VS.STYLING A CELEBRITY?
“My favourite part of styling is editorial styling, that is when I am the captain of the ship and I call the shots. I think of an idea and make it happen or someone from my team thinks of an idea and I help them nurture it with the right people, location, fashion, etc. Red carpets are fun because they are momentary and it goes away in a day. But there I have to work with celebrities who have a point of view. For me, it is very important that the celebrity’s personality shines through when I am styling them. I don’t want everyone to look the same. I work very hard on their fashion sense to come through when I am styling them.”
2) A MYTH ABOUT BEING A STYLIST YOU WANT TO BREAK?
“Everyone thinks it is extremely glamorous, we are always dressed up and we hang around with the cool crowd. We do sometimes hang around with them, but we work very hard!”
3) CAN YOU TAKE US TO YOUR FIRST SHOOT AS A STYLIST? HOW ARE THINGS DIFFERENT NOW?
“I don’t remember my first shoot as a stylist but the one shoot that remains with me is the first cover shoot of Elle. It was the launch of Elle magazine in India. It was the first international magazine in India. We ran a huge model hunt at a famous studio and tested hundreds of girls. Finally, we found a sweet Parsi girl from Pune. Things are very different now. In those days, we only shot film. It took a week to develop. You had to look through a magnifier. Now everything is digital. Then, what you shot was what you got. Now you can tweak and change things. Overall, people have just gotten more professional. We are a country which is brimming with talent. It is a very encouraging place to be.”
4) YOU WERE ONE OF THE FIRST STYLISTS IN INDIA. HOW HAS THE JOURNEY BEEN?
“When I started off, there were no stylists. I was tossing around between being a designer or a hairstylist. I never knew what part I wanted but wanted to be some part of this amazing world. My growth as a stylist just happened organically. From being somebody who made breakfast at a shoot to someone who helped choose the colour of the wall on a set to actually being someone who thinks of an idea, casts the people around it and actually makes the idea come to life. It’s been quite an amazing journey and I am so happy that there are so many younger stylists that have worked with me at some point in their lives. I hope that we have shared some happy space.”