Top 10 Stylists in India | Meet The Jury
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.
In 2025, as Indian stars sharpened their presence across Cannes red carpets, global fashion weeks and high-visibility luxury campaigns, The Hollywood Reporter India turned 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.
What emerged was a shared philosophy that treats celebrity style as authorship rather than ornament.
There is the cinematic intuition and lived-in glamour honed by Anaita Shroff Adajania, the distinct editorial intelligence with which Rhea Kapoor turns fashion into global spectacle, and the youthful immediacy Devanshi Tuli brings to emerging designers and red carpets. Modern menswear finds emotional depth and restraint through Nikhil Mansata, while Manisha Melwani reworks heritage textiles into polished celebrity narratives. Precision-led minimalism surfaces in Akshay Tyagi’s silhouettes, alongside Edward Lalrempuia’s editorial edge and gender-fluid confidence. Conceptual layering and cultural memory appear in Indrakshi Pattanaik’s work, while Divyak D’Souza leans unapologetically into drama and maximalism, all grounded by Priyanka Kapadia’s editorial discipline and narrative intelligence.
Together, they define a cultural landscape where Indian styling feels confident, contemporary and impossible to ignore.
MEET THE JURY
A collective of veterans shaping fashion’s cultural conversation: Vijendra Bhardwaj of Esquire India, creative authority on blending fashion and culture; Sarah-Jane Dias, model-turned-actor with deep roots in fashion and media; Vahbiz Mehta, architect of runway spectacle; Shweta Shiware, journalist-editor with critical rigour; and Bandana Tewari, Vogue India alum reframing fashion through sustainability and global context.
VIJENDRA BHARDWAJ (Fashion director, Esquire India)
Vijendra Bhardwaj is a fashion and style director whose career spans GQ India, the cult-defining M magazine, and Esquire India. A NIFT alumnus, he has shaped iconic editorials, celebrity covers and brand campaigns, marrying menswear authority with narrative depth, visual poetry and cultural intelligence, while mentoring talent and steering fashion’s conversation between art and commerce.
SARAH-JANE DIAS (Actor, model and presenter)
Sarah-Jane Dias rose to prominence after winning Miss India World 2007, following an early title as Miss India Oman. A former Channel V VJ, she built deep fashion literacy through modelling, runway exposure and brand campaigns before transitioning to cinema with Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai (2010) and earning acclaim for Angry Indian Goddesses, blending screen range with style credibility.
BANDANA TEWARI (Culture journalist, sustainability advocate)
Bandana Tewari is a culture journalist and sustainability advocate, TEDx speaker and global keynote voice on compassionate fashion, conscious consumption and Gandhi-inspired sartorial integrity. Former Editor-at-Large of Vogue India for 13 years, she writes widely for international publications, is a BoF 500 member, advises Good Earth, Sabyasachi and global sustainability bodies, and currently lives in Bali.
SHWETA SHIWARE (Journalist, critic, columnist)
Shweta Shiware is a journalist, critic and Mumbai Mirror columnist, and a Central Saint Martins’ alum tracing how identity moves through clothes, craft and culture. Writing on fashion before it became a cultural engine, her bylines span mid-day, The Hindu, GQ India, The Voice of Fashion and The Nod.
VAHBIZ MEHTA (Fashion show director)
Vahbiz Mehta is a show director and fashion choreographer whose work reshaped the Indian runway. A two-time India Fashion Awards winner for New Age Show Director, she has staged experiential shows for designers from Gaurav Gupta and Manish Malhotra to Anamika Khanna and Amit Aggarwal, and directed international houses including Hermès, Balenciaga and Vivienne Westwood. A Lakmé Fashion Week mainstay, she has also helmed Times Fashion Week, Dubai Fashion League and major brand showcases from Mercedes-Benz to Adidas.
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