Designer Aisha Rao Proves That Maximalism Isn't Dead — and Bollywood Celebrities Can't Get Enough

In an age where celebrity weddings, both on camera and off, have embraced a “less is more” philosophy — pastel palettes, tone-on-tone embroidery, a restrained minimalism — Hyderabad-based designer Aisha Rao remains unapologetically maximalist. Yet, somehow, in defying the trend, she became a favourite among the celebrities who set them.

Celebrated for her fearless use of colour and intricate appliqué work, she pivoted from a law degree to a Parsons-trained couturier. And in 2017, she launched her eponymous label.

“Year one, we launched a collection that immediately got noticed because Shraddha Kapoor wore a lehenga during the promotions for Stree,” Rao recalls. That white, blue and orange lehenga — bright, and so unmistakably Rao — became the label’s calling card. “That was our bread and butter for three years.” People resonated with that particular aesthetic and the brand scaled up, hoping to avoid being typecast.

Couture Calling

Rao’s designs managed to stay a step ahead of what should have been natural progression for her. A fact she proved in 2025, when actor Sara Ali Khan turned showstopper for her India Couture Week (ICW) debut in a rose-gold metallic lehenga. It was a far cry from the bright, vibrant tones that people had come to expect of Rao, and a definite sign that her evolution had begun.

The day they signed with their brand partner, the sanitary ware brand Kohler, was when Rao’s ICW collection was conceptualised. And the clock was ticking, because the show was only two months away.

Debuting at ICW also meant navigating a rigorous approval process. She explains, “When it comes to a debut, the board takes a lot of time looking at your products, calling for two, maybe three jury rounds. It is not an easy process, from the membership stage to getting where we are now. It’s taken us two years just to get the attention of the board.” Once the collection was greenlit, the scale and pressure of ICW quickly came into focus. “You have to crack music, the choreographer, the line-up, the clothes, the invitations — it’s a whole different ball game,” Rao reveals.

With stakeholders and different brand partners, accommodating everybody’s interest was what she found to be unexpectedly overwhelming. “It’s more serious — it’s not just cut and stitch, with all due respect to any fashion week. This is a lot more dexterous, more industrious. You have to put in the hours, make sure you are representing the best that your team has to offer in terms of technique, craft and fabric,” Rao says.

And then, of course, came the question everyone designer faces: who would close the show?

If making her ICW debut was a milestone, locking in the showstopper was critical. Four celebrity options were vetoed by Kohler due to brand conflicts. But Rao’s instinct was unwavering. “The minute I imagined somebody to embody Wild at Heart, I thought, who better than Sara? I fought for her for a long time,” she admits.

Kohler’s requirement for the showstopper look — a rose gold metallic hue — also pushed Rao into unfamiliar territory. “It’s not a colour I usually do. We did a very tone-on-tone look because I couldn’t make it bright. This was our debut collection, so we were striving toward a nuanced version of what we were already doing.”

The Art of Reinvention

The willingness to evolve without abandoning her design DNA has been a defining trait for this young designer. They were known as the ‘mehendi’ designers with the vibrant aesthetic, before they launched their pret line full of sequin and ruffled saris.

For the last six years, the brand has stuck to its signature, while still introducing something new every season.

Although her peers may stick to their signature designs, hoping to become instantly identifiable, “I get bored making the same thing,” Rao admits with a laugh. “This can be a bad thing for a brand to constantly reinvent because like Sabyasachi says, iconicism comes from repetition and we’re learning to strike that balance.”

But reinvention doesn’t come without a cost. The brand has been committed to designing sustainably, particularly with the use of upcycled fabrics. But the realities of scale forced Rao to refine her approach.

“It’s a real problem,” she admits. “We’re running a business in the end, and the rhetoric that we make lehengas from waste was becoming counterproductive.” Everyone wanted the same lehenga, from the same waste fabric and to buy that would defeat its purpose. So, they came up with a line of prints. After all, the business must be sustainable too. As she puts it, “What’s immediate is the people in front of you who have to feed their families.”

Her collections Pastiche and Juna had vibrant prints that were runway hits; actor and influencer Athiya Shetty wore them in 2020. Later, Rao’s sequin prints, introduced in the Barcelona collection, Trencadís, in 2022 were worn by Jully Patel, a US-based influencer and Manana Arakelyan, an Armenian one.

Today, with a successful couture house, an ICW debut under her belt, and a brand identity that confidently stands for more is more, Rao is open to looking at new frontiers, perhaps even film.

“Many designers have done films and juggled their business — Sabyasachi, Rimple Harpreet, Anju Modi — so why not? I’d love to be open to it.”

For someone who’s already navigated multiple reinventions in six short years, another pivot may be inevitable. But for now, Rao is content to bask in the glow of Wild at Heart, a collection that cemented her place at couture’s table, and proved that sometimes, more really is more.

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