If there’s one designer who can make cutting chai, maachis, LED lights and quirky fashion sense blend seamlessly, it’s Nida Mahmood. The Delhi-based designer who is known as the queen of kitsch is “over the moon”. And why not? A dream come true for Nida, who’s got the opportunity to design for pop icon Lady Gaga.
“I got a call from Red Chillies and was asked to design a costume for Lady Gaga. She saw an AV of the collection to choose from and loved the concept of an LED outfit. I also got a chance to meet her on the day of her show for over two hours,” says Nida.
Surprisingly, while Nida was creating this current collection — The Great Indian Bohemian Tamasha, she couldn’t think of anyone who could carry the outfit as stylishly as Lady Gaga. “The dress is a carefully crafted piece of art inspired from Indian theatre. It is a digitally printed knee-length dress with Jadugar being the key element. While designing the dress I thought that no one except Lady Gaga can do justice to this outfit. I was thinking of getting in in touch with her and show her some of the pieces. I was more than pleasantly surprised when I got a call for the same, I can’t believe it,” she adds.
The dress is embellished with over 1000 LED lights (Light emitting diode), which attracted Gaga the most. “She was in love with the dress,” says Nida. Quite thrilled at the opportunity, Nida isn’t too sure where Lady Gaga would wear the dress, but is too happy to have met her. All praises for Gaga, Nida says, “I was surprised to see how an international star like her can be so humble. She spoke about simple things like how she goes home and cooks for her dad. It was so surprising. Her simplicity makes her so beautiful.”