Out of the Closet | Niharika Khan - Livemint

Updated: Fri, Oct 11 2013. 04 43 PM IST

Fluorescent nightingale

With her unruly mass of black and purple hair, 14 tattoos (ants, dragonflies, etc.), 15 piercings (nine on the face, rest on areas not visible), oversized glasses, and an obsessively organized wardrobe that is a riot of colours, prints and quirks, Niharika Khan is like fashion’s “mad scientist”.

“I don’t think of myself as an organized person. But my wardrobe has to be,” she says. So everything, from her numerous spectacles and perfumes, jewellery and shoes to lingerie (sorted by colour, lace, fabric) and jeans (22 pairs) has its designated place. Clothes are organized by colour and sleeve-length.

Quirky sunglasses

Khan, a costume designer-stylist for many A-list films, never formally studied fashion. Now credited for memorable, trend-shaping looks from movies like Band Baaja Baaraat, The Dirty Picture and work that was appreciated in films like Heroine (in which she styled actor Arjun Rampal ) and the recent The Lunchbox, she has a sari tailor, blouse tailor and men’s tailor on speed dial and designs most of her own clothes as well.

As someone who prefers underground to mainstream, Khan’s personal style is more NYC Soho than blingy Bollywood. With her signature quirky frames and casual style, she is quite the exception in the film industry. Edited excerpts from an interview:

Her wardrobe

How would you describe your sense of style?

I don’t have a particular style that I can describe. I love colour, comfort and I live in jeans and ganjis (vests). What I do is use a lot of basics and team them with prints, colours and accessories. I want to be able to walk all the time, so I am dressed comfortably.

I never dress for someone else. When I think about it, I feel like I am a slave to fashion. Not by following trends, but I have tried a lot of things and much before anyone else. I coloured my hair 20 years ago in Seattle, before anyone else was doing it here. At that time I also got piercings on my face and my first tattoo. My parents in Jamshedpur were flabbergasted. They told me only Adivasi tribals got tattoos.

Has your style changed with age and body shape?

I think I dress the way I did when I was in college. I was covering my body more when I was bigger—wore A-line silhouettes and hid my thighs. Recently I lost 27kg but I haven’t changed my style drastically. I am just able to wear shorter clothes now. And in the Mumbai weather that’s the most comfortable.

A skirt designed by her

I brought out dresses from 18 years ago because they fit me now. I love neon and have lots of neon clothes, bangles and bras that I wear with ganjis. In fact, everyone called me “fluorescent nightingale” on the sets of Kai Po Che!.

How do you change your look from day to evening or casual to formal?

My basics are divided by day and night—I have separate jeans and ganjis for day and night wear. And I dress according to my moods—if I am having a bad day I dress better because it makes me feel good. When I am shooting I’m usually in ganjis and shorts or men’s cargos with flat sandals, Kolhapuris or my favourite Wellies.

Khan’s favourite Wellingtons

For evening wear I have darker denims that fit better. Sometimes I wear dresses and for award functions I wear saris. I love heels and wedges for an evening out. I always have a statement piece on me, and my hair usually has some accessory on it.

Any style obsessions?

Many. I’m obsessed with silver jewellery and I design my own stuff. I love all kinds of accessories, especially hair accessories and brooches. And I have a shoe fetish.

I also love quirky frames for glasses and sunglasses and am a perfume buff. My favourites are Tom Ford’s Black Violet and Paco Rabanne’s Calandre, which was actually the first perfume my father gifted me and I still love it.

Are there any trends or looks that you would never try?

I will never wear Juicy Couture velour tracksuits or any sporty clothes unless I am working out.

I am not a girly girl—I cannot wear fitted silhouettes and I can’t be obviously “sexy”. So even when I wear a black dress, I underplay the sexiness of the dress. There is always a sense of balance. I can’t do bling and I also never buy dresses without pockets.

A Manish Arora ganji, also worn by Poorna Jagannath in ‘Delhi Belly’

Where do you shop?

I hate shopping actually. I have so much stuff only because I have been collecting all my life. And I can’t bear malls. I send my assistants to buy my basics at malls. I am like a male shopper in that sense, and what I like, I pick up in all the colours. I like Quirk Box and buy a lot of their stuff. If I do shop, I prefer bazaars, antique stores and thrift shops where I can find unique things—underground fashion works for me.

I think used denim has the best fit and I buy only second-hand jeans. In fact, I once made Gattu (Abhishek Kapoor ) take off his jeans and kept them for myself. I am quite anti-brand and I go out of my way to not spend money on fashion.

She used this phulkari dupatta from ‘White Lies’ to design a dress

We have a weird sense of shopping—we spend so much more on occasion wear that we will use a few times but scrimp on daily clothes. I just don’t get that.

Do you ever take home anything from your film shoots?

I do, depending on my relationship with the production house because they own the stuff. I have glasses that Vidya Balan wore in The Dirty Picture, a Manish Arora ganji that Poorna Jagannathan wore in Delhi Belly, a border from Band Baaja Baaraat that I still have to make something with, and I also used a phulkari dupatta from White Lies to make a dress for myself.

Styles from your movies have often been copied. Do you consider yourself a trend-setter?

Although looks from The Dirty Picture, Band Baaja Baaraat, Rock On!!, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, etc. were copied widely, I don’t think I am a trend-setter because if the movies hadn’t been a hit these wouldn’t have become trends.