Top 10 Stylists in India | Here's Who Is Defining the Visual Language of Celebrityhood Today
THR India picks the top 10 stylists, creative directors, costume designers, and fashion consultants building India’s visual language today — on screen, on the red carpet, and everywhere in between.
The Hollywood Reporter India turns its attention to the 10 stylists shaping those moments and quietly defining the visual language of celebrityhood today.
Chosen from a wider pool of 25 by a five-member jury of senior fashion editors, models, fashion choreographers, and cultural observers, the final cohort was assessed through representation, innovation, execution, impact and range.
Anaita Shroff Adajania
As an actor, you may remember Anaita Shroff Adajania as Sheena, Simran’s (Kajol) bestie who travels all of Europe with her in Dilwale Dulhaniye Le Jayenge (1995) or as Geeta Parekh, Rohit Patel’s (Saif Ali Khan) MBA classmate and crush in Kal Ho Na Ho. But her influence in Bollywood and what it looks like today, far exceeds her contribution to these two iconic blockbusters.
Apart from her role as the fashion director of Vogue India, she has worked as a costume designer in over 35 movies, since the early 2000s. Her decades’ long career has bridged the gap between high fashion, popular culture, and Bollywood. In cinema, she found a way to make clothes speak for the character, even before they utter a single word of dialogue. Talking about this design philosophy, she said in an interview to The Indian Express in February 2022, “I never want people to come out of a film and think only of the clothes; it should be the last thing they think of, in a sense. So, for me, the true success of my work is when actors feel that I have helped them in some way or the other…I feel the clothes gave them a sense of who they were.”
This is true when you think of all the characters she has worked with, even when they’re being played by the same actor. For instance, the costumes alone are enough to distinguish Deepika Padukone in Cocktail (2012) from Deepika Padukone in Finding Fanny (2014). The clothes she wears in the start of the film is a stark contrast to how they look towards the end, reflecting how they’ve changed from within.
Neither of these two characters look anything like Tara (Deepika Padukone, again) in Tamasha (2015). So when you see a song like “Agar Tum Saath Ho” in the film and wonder why Tara is dressed in bright red while Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) wears pink, it’s most likely Anaita’s way of telling us that we’re witnessing a tug of war between a person that is all heart and a person that is all brain.
by Vishal Menon
Akshay Tyagi
A fashion and textile graduate of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Akshay Tyagi is behind many beloved looks in films, editorials and red carpet looks. His connection with fashion started way back in Canada, where he worked as a visual merchandiser at a premium boutique run by Ralph Lauren, according to an interview by Elle. He knew he wanted to dabble in styling when he moved to India in 2011, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Tyagi’s film work has been diverse and intentional, with Hindi titles such as Fitoor (2016), Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021), Sheer Qorma (2021), The Night Manager (2023), and the latest Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri (2025). His work beyond Bollywood includes Allu Arjun’s Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020). Film work aside, Tyagi is a regular curator of Cannes looks, and has also styled the wardrobe for India’s drag artiste Rani KoHEnur in the international drag competition ‘Queen of The Universe’ and RuPaul’s DragCon.
He is also a fixture of the men’s fashion landscape in India. Tyagi has worked extensively with actors such as the late Irrfan Khan, Varun Dhawan, Naseeruddin Shah, Rajkummar Rao, Hrithik Roshan, Sidharth Malhotra, Ajay Devgn, Mahesh Babu, and Aditya Roy Kapur. For a stylist who curates the looks of several stars in the industry, Tyagi has always maintained that his personal style is functional. “I pretty much used to wear checked shirts and jeans while I was growing up. And then now it's a little more printed shirt, sort of a layer and basics…but I also want to buy one investment piece that I keep. I have a perfect pair of Margiela boots that I have worn now for like 10 years. It is what it is,” he told Elle in 2024.
Devanshi Tuli
One scroll through Devanshi Tuli’s Instagram and one is instantly drawn into her world — full of bright colours, exaggerated silhouettes and layered traditional fabrics. Based in India, the fashion stylist and creative director’s love for visual storytelling began early, inspired by her mother, an artist at heart, and the late Madan Singh, a sculptor and fine art teacher.
Over the last decade, Tuli has worked across editorial features, films, brand campaigns and long-format visual stories. She’s styled some of the coolest looks for Sonam Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar, Anjali Sivaraman, Athiya Shetty and more, but what truly sets her apart is her ability to reimagine Indian craft through a contemporary, global lens.
A graduate of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi, Tuli holds a Bachelor’s degree in Design. Known for her intuitive approach to draping and her eye for detail, she values research, craftsmanship and storytelling far more than chasing trends. That philosophy even shaped her own wedding, which was recently featured in Vogue India.
What started as a childhood love for art now informs everything she does in fashion — where composition, form and cultural context remain at the core of her work. Today, Tuli runs her own styling studio, juggling fashion, weddings and cultural projects — quietly shaping the conversation around Indian design along the way.
Divyak D'Souza
At 17, Divyak D’Souza was preparing for his medical entrance exams, a safe, traditional path that seemed worlds away from the high-octane realm of fashion. While waiting for his results, he applied for a Bachelor’s in Mass Media on a whim, a spontaneous decision that led him to an internship at GQ India. Since 2008, D’Souza has built a 17-year career as a versatile, sought-after stylist in the modern Indian fashion landscape.
Since that momentous foray into fashion in 2008, D’Souza has sharpened his editorial lens at publications such as Elle India, Femina, and Harper’s Bazaar Bride. For him, fashion is an act of cultural observation. His work is largely narrative-driven, capturing his subjects’ stories and contexts through style with an easy confidence. Whether it’s a red-carpet appearance or a commercial campaign, his styling makes its presence felt without eclipsing individual identity. Perhaps this is why D’Souza's diverse portfolio includes long-standing collaborations with some of the industry’s most discerning icons, including Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Farhan Akhtar, and Hrithik Roshan.
What also sets him apart is his refusal to remain behind the scenes. He has successfully blurred the lines between styling and fashion-led entertainment. As the host and stylist for Season 1 of Say Yes to the Dress India, he brought a vivacious, empathetic energy to the screen, navigating the high-stakes world of bridal fashion. His natural ease in front of the camera has since made him a fixture at major industry showcases, from Vogue’s Forces of Fashion to red-carpet hosting for global brands such as H&M.
Ultimately, D’Souza’s longevity in an ever-evolving industry stems from his commitment to substance and storytelling, bringing his signature editorial precision to every single look.
Edward Lalrempuia
A seasoned fashion consultant and stylist, Edward Lalrempuia is a familiar name in Indian fashion circles. With over 16 years of experience under his belt, he has worked with the most influential fashion magazines, styling editorials, campaigns and collaborating with talent from around the world.
As an independent stylist, Lalrempuia’s journey has taken him to the heart of the industry’s biggest names — Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Lakmé Fashion Week, Estée Lauder, and L’Oréal, to name just a few. Recently, his work has expanded to glamorous campaigns and events for YSL Beauty, Pantene, Jo Malone, Dior, Raymond, Pepsi, and the runway shows of India’s top designers.
Born in Aizawl, Mizoram, and trained at National Institute of Fashion Technology Delhi, Lalrempuia’s path into styling was shaped by instinct rather than convention. While studying fashion design, he realised that his true strength lay not in creating garments, but in reimagining them through styling — a field that was still nascent in India in the early 2000s. His early years demanded patience and adaptability, from unglamorous internships to navigating a then-uncertain freelance ecosystem. In an interview with MensXP, Lalrempuia candidly spoke about the realities of freelancing, the importance of financial discipline, and building credibility through consistent work and collaboration.
And speaking of collaboration, he also regularly styles celebrities such as Ananya Panday, Mira Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter, among others.
Indrakshi Pattanaik
A graduate in fashion communication from Symbiosis in Pune, Indrakshi Pattanaik began her career assisting stylist Niharika Bhasin Khan for Bombay Velvet (2015), before pursuing her Masters in Fashion Styling & Creative Direction at Polimoda in Italy. In 2019, Pattanaik won the National Award for recreating the looks of a bygone era, all the way from the 1940s to the 1980s, in the Telugu film Mahanati (2018). To research this biopic on the actress Savitri, played by Keerthy Suresh, she met old photographers, visited production houses, and scanned through newspaper archives to look at images of how people dressed back then. Pattanaik also ran an online campaign to source photos of then-Madras.
Given the film’s scale, Pattanaik had to be careful about every bystander’s styling. She visited vintage flea markets in both Florence and Hyderabad and collected glasses from an old Parsi shop in Dadar, to accessorise her characters. From the material — chiffon or silk or cotton — to the cuts and silhouettes, each outfit gave not only a palpable sense of the era, but also how a character changes. Apart from Mahanati, Pattanaik has also styled for films like Loop Lapeta (2022). She even styled director Payal Kapadia who was on the Cannes Jury in 2025, alongside her work in ads, including those of Nykaa, Tira, Levis, Tinder and Netflix. Pattanaik also does editorial photo shoots and music videos. A believer in sustainable fashion, she prefers vintage clothing, upcycling, and handlooms.
Manisha Melwani
Manisha Melwani’s sensibilities have carved a distinct niche in the industry. Steeped in the richness and diversity of contemporary Indian craftsmanship, the costume designer and celebrity stylist works instinctively with textiles, patterns and silhouettes. Fluid trousers, oversized blazers, statement saris paired with sculpted blouses, relaxed kurta sets, co-ord ensembles and playful layering — often finished with bold, expressive accessories — are her signature.
Through her costumes, she has shaped the look and feel of films such as Bhoot Police (2022), Thank You for Coming (2023), Crew (2024) and Ishq Vishq Rebound (2024), all of which speak a contemporary language.
Over the years, Melwani has also styled a wide clientele of stars and celebrities. She’s collaborated frequently with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Sanya Malhotra, Ananya Panday, Bhoomi Pednekar, Janhvi Kapoor, Shanaya Kapoor, Aditi Rao Hydari, Guneet Monga Kapoor, Yami Gautam, Anil Kapoor and Vijay Varma amongst others for film promotions, award ceremonies, magazine covers, red carpet appearances and brand engagements.
Melwani was also the co-founder of the sustainable luxury streetwear brand Doh Tak Keh, which shut down operations last year.
Nikhil Mansata
Nikhil Mansata belongs to a rare category of fashion creatives whose work doesn’t chase relevance. Clean, deliberate silhouettes; an instinctive understanding of proportion; and a client list that spans Indian and global talent explain why his work has become instantly recognisable within fashion’s inner circles. Loved by creatives and trusted by luxury houses, Mansata operates less as a stylist in the traditional sense and more as a cultural interlocutor — someone who understands how fashion, identity and strategy intersect.
Born and raised in Kolkata, Mansata was drawn early to the visual grammar of fashion, leading him to train at London’s Istituto Marangoni. Mumbai would later complete that trajectory. It is here that Mansata learned how Indian fashion houses operate at scale across celebrity, media and luxury brand ecosystems.
His editorial credentials span some of the most influential international titles, including Vogue, Architectural Digest, and The Business of Fashion to name a few. He has also become a trusted cultural consultant for global luxury houses engaging with India. In 2023, he played a central role in Dior’s landmark showcase in collaboration with the Chanakya School of Craft, leading strategic consulting, styling and VIP guest curation.
Even his foray into spatial storytelling, including creative direction for Sonam Kapoor’s Architectural Digest Open Door showcase, underscores a wider industry truth: fashion influence today extends across environments, not just garments.
As global luxury fashion in India becomes more nuanced, his work illustrates that power in fashion is consolidating with creatives who can translate culture into enduring value. At a moment when Indian fashion is recalibrating its global voice, Mansata has emerged as one of its most decisive translators.
by Keerat Kohli
Priyanka Kapadia
With a strong editorial background spanning over a decade, Priyanka Kapadia’s journey to becoming a top-tier stylist in India has been anything but boring. In 2025, she has been behind some of the year’s most talked-about looks, dressing a roster that includes Alia Bhatt, Ananya Panday, Isha Ambani, Deepika Padukone and Kareena Kapoor Khan to name a few.
Her work this year also mirrors broader fashion currents shaping 2025. As quiet luxury and statement dressing continue to influence both runway and celebrity fashion, Kapadia’s styling aligns naturally. At a time when images are designed to circulate endlessly across platforms, her looks are constructed to read instantly — clean lines, resolved proportions, and styling choices that don’t require explanation.
Among her most notable work in 2025 is Ananya Panday’s Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla ensemble, featuring an intricate interplay of pearls, crystals, stones and sequins, as well as Deepika Padukone’s Louis Vuitton look at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Kapadia has also emerged as a key stylist for Panday, whose consistently sharp public appearances have positioned her as one of Bollywood’s most closely watched fashion figures this year.
What continues to make Kapadia a preferred choice among A-list Bollywood talent is her understanding of proportion. Her looks never feel overcrowded or clunky; instead, they prioritise sharp tailoring, fit and designer alignment — an approach that has quietly shaped some of the most loved red-carpet and public moments in Indian fashion over the past decade.
by Keerat Kohli
Rhea Kapoor
Being styled by Rhea Kapoor means you’ve arrived. Actors are no longer mere vessels for their characters — through their visual identity, they are now being demanded a level of authenticity and self-expression like never before, and much of the credit for this style revolution goes to Kapoor. Her journey began with her sister, Sonam Kapoor, as her muse. With this perfect canvas for experimentation, Kapoor ushered in a new era for Bollywood fashion, where international couturiers like Jean Paul Gaultier were weighed with equal reverence alongside the intricate craftsmanship of Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla.
Beyond the glamour of high fashion and couture, Kapoor has helped cultivate a philosophy of intentionality. By juxtaposing structured, androgynous silhouettes with feminine accents and classic Indian maximalism, she pushes celebrities to play with their style, rather than being restricted by the capricious trend cycle.
Her tastemaker sensibility shines through in her work in films, too. With projects such as Aisha (2010), Veere Di Wedding (2018) and Crew (2024) under her belt, she has consistently championed films centred on women’s stories, portraying them not as merely subjects of trauma or romance, but as women with spunk, each character uniquely and impeccably dressed. Her debut, Aisha, was a milestone in on-screen fashion, a visual feast with the likes of Dior, Chanel, and Ferragamo. Since then, she has become the invisible hand behind the scenes for icons like Kareena Kapoor Khan and Alia Bhatt, crafting some of Bollywood’s most memorable looks in recent years.
It is clear that Kapoor has inspired a fundamental shift in India’s celebrity ecosystem, proving that true style is grounded in one’s honesty to the self. Her legacy is the blueprint for modern Indian fashion, where authenticity will always be the undying trend.
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