While the world was busy decoding the secret “ABK” embroidery on Alia Bhatt’s Cannes gown, the real magic was happening in the soft, lavender-hued brushstrokes that swept across the silk organza. If you
felt like that dress belonged in a dream, you’re not far off.
Meet Basuri Chokshi, the Ahmedabad-based muralist and painter who just proved that high fashion is better when it’s hand-painted.
Basuri wasn’t always painting for the red carpet. An interior designer by training, she spent her early years looking at siloes and structures. But art was a quiet hum in the background of her life—from watching her father sketch intricate jewellery patterns to seeing her mother routinely change the pichhwai paintings in their home temple.
In 2012, while practicing interiors, she realised she’d rather be on the walls than just designing them. She made the decision to change her tools for acrylics and never looked back.
If you look closely at Alia’s gown, you see the fingerprints of Basuri’s signature style: an ode to nature and botanical details of the Riviera. For her, these subjects are windows into the intricate beauty and wonders of the natural world. Whether she’s working on a 2,000 sq. ft. double-storey mural or a few meters of delicate silk for a global icon, her process remains the same: deep research, masterful execution, and a palette so soft it invites you in without ever demanding your attention.
Alia Bhatt’s hand-painted ensemble was later turned into a gorgeous gown by corset maestro Yash Patil and his eponymous brand That Antiquepiece, which turns every piece of cloth into a wearable art form. He has collaborated with Alia in the past too, and the actress has been seen in the brand’s sculpted Metallic Gota jacket with silk fringed lapel and Leo draped silk organza corset for a magazine cover shoot. Patil’s iconic and sculpted corsets have also been donned by Bollywood celebs like Sobhita Dhulipala and Bhumi Pednekar.
