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Her Highness Aditi Rao Hydari Is Here

July 27, 2023 16:00 IST

When Aditi Rao Hydari coasted the ramp for FDCI x India Couture Week in New Delhi, Wednesday, July 26, as she does year after year, her pedigree was on display.

Of mixed Bohra, Buddhist, Telugu, Kannada, Chitrapur Saraswat heritage, she belongs to Hyderabadi nobility from both her mom and dad's side of the family, and the young woman prettily wafting down the runway in exquisite Ritu Kumar garments could not have been more royal.

One might easily picture her out on the trellised balcony of an opulent mahal near Golconda, probably with a chilled glass of wine in her hand, and maybe A R Rahman's Mehndi Hai Rachnewali playing in the background.

As Designer Kumar's muse and showstopper, Aditi's outfit in elegantly neutral shades, hit different notes, traditional, sublime, but modern with those pockets.

Some might call the lehenga-choli set an ode to minimal glam, but that's perhaps too contradictory, given the amount of zari rollicking across it.

Have a good and long dekko at Hydari and at the rest of the 'OG of Indian fashion', Ritu Kumar's latest collection.

IMAGE: Beautiful poise. Shoulders upright. The right amount of haughty. Grace. It is a treat to watch Aditi, rani-like, sashay in.
All photographs: Kind courtesy FDCI/Instagram

 

IMAGE: Ritu Kumar and the lady we recently saw in Jubilee.

 

IMAGE: Stunning, right? Maybe just the dress/maxi to attend the Gadar 2 premiere in.

 

IMAGE: While isn't this printed organza sari getup the ideal dresscode for watching Westside Story at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in north west Mumbai?
Never mind that the choli is absent. It is not missed.
The leather band clinching the waist lends the ethnic drape a dress avatar.

 

IMAGE: Nisha Yadav flaunts cleavage nearly reaching her bellybutton in a classy, sultry, zari-ed manner.

 

IMAGE: Saris teamed with strapless bustiers and draped around matching lehengas, in swirls, gave an eye of the storm look.

 

IMAGE: Oops, this ensemble -- probably super expensive -- began rather well and then went from shaadi to boudoir.
But if you look at it another way, it has the mood of a princess looking for some pool-time, who doesn't want to let go of her regal togs or lineage.

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