No Filter: Omar and Heeba Sait put homegrown label on the global fashion map

Everyone is still talking about the Golden Globe Awards that took place last week. Memes of Glenn Close’s surprise on winning the Best Actress award, to her impromptu and moving speech about women finding the time and space to nurture their career and ambitions, to Regina King’s call to action, or an all too familiar sight of Asian parents nodding with approval when their daughter became the first woman of Asian descent to host the show, have been trending topics of discussion. As if that wasn’t enough, Chennai’s very own menswear designer label Aliph by Gatsby dressed Jimmy Jean Louis for the night and he looked mighty fine in the navy blue suit. If you were a fan of the TV show Heroes like I was, you would recognise Jimmy in an instant.

Omar and Heeba Sait, the co-founders of Gatsby and one of the nicest couples in the city, have been working quietly under the radar, dressing international and Bollywood celebrities for almost seven years now. ‘It all started with Cannes in 2012 and then the Oscars got everyone talking. We have been working with several celebrities and stylists on a regular basis. Cannes is usually a busy time for us as we dress ten to fifteen celebrities each year. We have dressed Jimmy on several occasions and it’s a collaborative process where Omar travels to the US for meetings and I pitch in on the design front from here. For the Golden Globe Awards, we wanted to do something classy and minimal, but which would have the impact it needs for the red carpet,’ she said.

Menswear is about subtlety. It is about good style and taste, said Alexander Mcqueen once, and at Gatsby, they prove they are the experts with each look. Back home, they have dressed Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar, Arjun Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra and Prabhudheva to name a few. Down south, from Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Arvind Swami, Dinesh Karthik to Anirudh Ravichander, they have all worn their creations. In fact, well-travelled grooms from the city also reach out to them for bespoke menswear tailored to perfection for their big day. With the international award functions like the Chinese Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival underway, watch out for Aliph by Gatsby that will continue to make Chennai proud on the red carpet . They have a very exciting collaboration with a luxury brand so Chennaites, wait for this announcement as it will truly be the highlight of the city’s fashion calendar — I can’t wait for you all to hear about this.