Meet India’s OG Maximalists: Abu Jani And Sandeep Khosla Celebrate 40 Years Of India Maximal

Building a legacy is no easy feat but for four decades, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have showcased the beauty of Indian couture to the world, in their quintessential maximalist style. From the Bachchans and the Ambanis to Beyonce and Gigi Hadid, the list of celebrities who’ve donned their creations runs several feet long. To celebrate their momentous partnership, the iconic duo opened the doors of a new flagship store in Mumbai, located within the historic Framjee Cawasjee Institute. Christened Mubarak Baug, it is more than a retail destination, rather, a richly layered expression of the world Jani and Khosla have built: theatrical yet intimate and steeped in Indian craft grandeur. The store also marks the first project of their exciting new venture, A Wonder Room, a gallery that opens sometime later in Goa.

As you enter the black-and-gold wonderland, murals by Shine Shivan transform the corridor into a cross-cultural tapestry of Indian mythology. Look left to find a tree, entirely handmade with enormous ivory Shola flowers. Ahead, elevated mannequins pay an ode to the designers’ 25th anniversary celebration at Sotheby’s in London, where stilt walkers dressed in AJSK couture marched down Bond Street. Craftworks brought to life by Wolf Jaipur using leftover scraps from their collections, find a spot throughout the store. The first floor features a gilded promenade of hand-cut golden screens. Look up and you spot surreal swans flying through illuminated clouds. A large vault guards their jewellery collection, while an archival museum showcases iconic pieces. In a candid chat, the designers reminisce about their journey so far and their new beginnings.

You’ve been a name to reckon with in the Indian fashion industry. How has your journey been?

Sandeep Khosla (SK): It has been exhilarating, mad, beautiful and completely worth it. Abu and I have always followed our instincts over convention. India has remained our eternal muse, but the joy has been in looking at her again and again with fresh eyes. We began with clothes, but we were always interested in much more than that — craft, architecture, objects, interiors, art, theatre, fantasy. Perhaps that’s why, four decades later, we still feel there are far too many stories left to tell. And that’s a very good problem to have.

You celebrate ‘India Maximal’ in all its glory. What are some key attributes that define it?

Abu Jani (AJ): To us, maximalism has its source in culture, and it certainly has a method. It is scale, fantasy, emotion, and is sensorial and glamorous. But maximalism is also welcoming, warm and generous. It is the tactility of craft pushed until it becomes almost surreal. To us, it is unapologetically Indian…layered, theatrical and culturally intelligent. The trick is knowing when abundance becomes magic rather than clutter. We like the idea of edited excess. Every element may be exuberant, but it must still earn its place to be there, be it in a garment or an installation.

AJSK isn’t just an iconic brand, it’s also an epitome of partnership. What’s the secret to your success?

SK: Perhaps the secret is that we never tried to become the same person. You need shared obsession, not permanent agreement. Abu and I can disagree, argue, provoke each other and then come back to the only question that matters: ‘Is the work extraordinary?’ There is enormous trust between us but there’s also humour, and the freedom to tell each other when something simply isn’t good enough.

Tell us about A Wonder Room. What sparked its idea and why now?

AJ: A Wonder Room is a separate entity from Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla fashion, and we are its founders. While couture is our first language, we essentially build worlds. This passion pursuit now takes shape as an art and design gallery with an India Maximal point of view. It allows our imagination to move into everything from objects, installations and encounters that make a room come alive! In some ways, it has been 40 years in the making as for decades, we’ve helped curate many of our friends’ and clients’ spaces and events. A Wonder Room is not a home line, an interiors shop or a design studio. It is a gallery with a very definite eye, ours. We become creators, commissioners, curators, hosts and hopefully, very good troublemakers as we challenge conventional ideas. The intention is to create a new language for Indian design that celebrates its roots in crafts and culture. Why now? Because after 40 years, you either repeat yourself or open another door. We chose the door.

What’s the connection between A Wonder Room and Mubarak Baug?

SK: A Wonder Room helped bring Mubarak Baug’s spatial imagination to life, so naturally you can see some of our shared instincts there — craft, fantasy, scale, theatre and a certain refusal to behave. But it is its own entity with a new curatorial and creative vision. Goa will be the home of A Wonder Room gallery, but we are taking our time with it because we feel spaces like this should not be rushed.

Art Deco is a prominent theme in the store’s design. What inspired this?

AJ: We adore Art Deco because it showcases something we understand very well, which is discipline can be glamorous. There is geometry, symmetry and precision that is juxtaposed with indulgence and theatre. That tension is delicious. Maximalism needs structure otherwise it is just noise. Art Deco gives fantasy a very strong spine. You see that dialogue between geometry and adornment throughout Mubarak Baug.

We see an upside-down mythical city at Mubarak Baug. What was your thought behind it?

SK: Mubarak Baug means a garden of celebration and we imagined this mythical city almost as a utopia…a golden world suspended above ordinary life. It glimmers overhead like a permanent canopy of joy, possibility and abundance. But there is an idea behind the mischief. The city is handcrafted in pure brass and deliberately inverted so that you have to change your perspective to experience it.

That play between craft and impossibility is something A Wonder Room is deeply interested in: taking a traditional material or technique and letting imagination completely transform it into something one has never seen before.

What do you want visitors to feel when they eventually enter A Wonder Room in Goa?

AJ & SK: A little transported, spoiled and hopefully surprised. We want people to take their time, wander, look up, look closer. Our vision is to make people feel held by the experience. Ultimately, it should feel like entering someone else’s dream for an hour, and leaving with a few new dreams of your own.