Manifest Spotlight: The Style Elevator By Eshaa Amiin

When it comes to weddings, every detail matters, especially when it comes to the outfits. Whether it’s the smallest button or the right pair of shoes, it all adds up. Enter The Style Elevator by Eshaa Amiin, a bespoke wedding styling service that ensures every outfit, accessory, and ensemble tells a cohesive, stylish story at your wedding.

With years of expertise in styling Bollywood celebrities, like Karisma Kapoor and Ishan Khatter, and an innate flair for fashion design, Eshaa Amiin can help you curate your dream wedding wardrobe and trousseau.

Whether it’s a fun Sangeet look that can allow you to dance the night away or a modern Mehendi vibe, The Style Elevator is all about crafting a seamless, unforgettable style journey for the bride, groom, and entourage.

The designer spoke to Manifest to give us a lowdown about all things wedding styling, her journey with The Style Elevator and more. Read our chat here…

In Conversation With The Style Elevator’s Eshaa Amiin

Manifest: You’ve donned many hats in your career journey. What have been the takeaways from these?

Eshaa Amiin: I started my career as a designer with a European export house. I have the technical know-how of garment construction, fabrics and global trends. My job involved frequent travels to the fashion capital Paris! After about three years into my job; I made a shift into styling which opened up a whole new world for me. I dabbled in various verticals of styling that ranged from Bollywood, sports persons, runway, editorials & films. Each of these experiences was unique in many ways. These opportunities, not only elevated my experience as a stylist but also, helped me grow personally and improve my social skills as it involved interacting with people from different backgrounds.

M: What is your favourite part about Indian weddings? Especially related to fashion?

EA: I love that Indian weddings are always larger-than-life celebrations, with the active involvement of almost every family member in it. Every bride wants her wedding to be most memorable, which is why fashion and even the smallest detail play a very important role in the planning.

M: How is styling for a wedding different from styling a celebrity for a red carpet or any other event?

EA: Weddings hold a lot of emotions & memories of a lifetime. So in many ways, you cannot afford to go wrong as you have to look at those pictures framed forever.  If A red carpet look is a hit or a miss you do have many more such events to make a bigger statement. So there are no second chances in a wedding but one can have many opportunities in events!

M: What have been some of the most rewarding moments in your journey with The Style Elevator?

EA: I had just wrapped up styling a luxurious wedding for a bride and her family; the next day of the wedding the bride's brother proposed to his girlfriend and the family called me excitedly to say they were coming back the next month to start preparations for this wedding that's scheduled for next year and will need my services. Repeat clients trusting us with their most special events is always a form of deep satisfaction for me.

M: What are some factors that you keep in mind while styling a bride? How do you ensure every bride or wedding guest retains their individuality?

EA: First & foremost is understanding the bride & the groom's personality. Are they more of a bling and over-the-top people? Or do they enjoy being minimal and feel comfortable in traditional textiles and handlooms? Equally important is the vision of the family & their expectations of us. A lot of the times the vision of the bride and her partner's family for her are different. As a style consultant, we play the role of trying to bridge that gap and getting them all to agree to come on the same page while retaining and elevating their individual personalities. Accordingly, we create the mood & style board for the events.

M: Weddings can get chaotic and there’s a good chance that people will end up facing last-minute style emergencies. Can you recall any incident where you had to deal with something like this at a wedding with The Style Elevator?

EA: Well; there is one particular ‘chaotic’ experience that I can recall. It was a Delhi wedding that I styled during the lockdown, for which we obviously couldn't travel to the venue. On the night of the wedding ceremony; the bride realised that the skirt of her lehenga was missing, after doing her hair and make-up! I received an SOS call to arrange any similar lehenga at that moment as the ceremony was about to begin. I got the designer to open her store in the middle of the night to pack a similar-looking lehenga and dispatch it to the wedding venue. Fortunately, within a few minutes, I got a call from the bride's family that they found the lehenga it was wrongly sent by the hotel concierge to another guest's room! Well, you know what they say? All's well that ends well!

Manifest Cheat Sheet

M: What do you wish brides and other wedding attendees to know before approaching a wedding styling service like The Style Elevator?

EA: Before you lock on a wedding planner or a stylist; it is important that you are comfortable and vibe well as you will be working as a team with them hand-holding you for the next 6-12 months/ till the wedding. Don't just go with someone because they are famous, fancy or dominating as you may hesitate to express what you actually desire or envisioned for your wedding & might end up being unhappy on your very big day.

M: What is the time frame that you usually put in place when you start working with brides?

EA: Typically three to 12 months, depending on how elaborate is the wedding and how exclusive are the looks. Having said that; we have also pulled off looks for an entire wedding and trousseau in a month's time.

M: What is the pricing (or ballpark figure) for people who want to avail themselves of the services of The Style Elevator?

EA: It completely depends on the scale of the wedding. The level of customised designs expected will determine the budget & fees. Ideally; the fees can range from INR two to 15 lacs or more depending on the above factors.