KOLKATA:

Abhishek Bachchan will exchange wedding wows with Aishwarya Rai wearing an outfit designed by Sharbari Datta, the well known revivalist mens-wear designer here. It was Ash’s mother Brinda’s wish that the Bachchan men wear clothes by Datta, India’s “only woman designer” who dresses up “only men” in traditional attires.

“I’ve despatched about 30 pieces of classical Indian dresses for the marriage after Brinda Rai said I should design the clothes for Abhishek and menfolk of Bachchan family,” Datta said. “They are various cuts and st-yles in maroon, off-white, ele-ctric blue and rust whi-ch I have used keeping in mind the 6ft 3in hei-ght and medium complexion of Abhishek.”

Sharbari is a designer who gate crashed to only dress up men in ethnic chic and herald the re-arrival of designer kurtas and coloured dhotis in a throwback to the rich old sartorial traditions of the country. From Jagjit Singh, Vijay Mallya and Russi Modi to Leander Paes, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, MF Hussain, Baichung Bhutia and Sourav Ganguly — none could resist the elegantly intricate designs by Datta.

“I am not divulging details of the attires as there should be an element of surprise that all brides and grooms love to unveil,” said Datta. “I have avoided using black because that is not considered auspicious for Indian functions,” she added.