The ageless Malaika Arora ushered in her 46th birthday recently driving home the point that age really is just a number. While her starry guest list has essentially been the talk of the town, what caught our attention was Malaika's birthday number.
The birthday girl chose a stunning Manish Malhotra custom-made skater-style mini dress featuring extensive mirror work. The reflective metallic accents of the dress come from the geometric-cut mirrors which cover the dress. While we love the adventurous boho vibe, we couldn't help but notice that it looks very similar to a famous designer's signature creation.
We're sure you've seen American designer Tom Ford's widely popular mirror-embroidered number at least once - if not on Jennifer Lawrence (she wore it at the 2014 Oscar's after-party), then on Kourtney Kardashian, or at least on Malaika's BFF Kareena Kapoor Khan, who wore a longer rendition of the mini dress at the Social Media Summit Award 2018!
Ford's psychedelic mosaic number is, of course, a lot more intricate; it features hand-placed mirror embroidery with uncut chunks of mirrors and was first showcased at the 2014 London Fashion Week. In the last few years, many versions of the dress have been sported by celebs across the globe, including Jennifer Lopez and Amal Clooney.
The mosaic embroidered dress has remained a raging favourite among fashionistas as it boasts of Ford's signature cinematic grunge and a high-octane disco vibe. Malhotra's number for Malaika looks heavily inspired by Ford's lookbook - on several counts, except the silhouette. Ford has been known for not being a fan of flared or skater-style numbers and prefers his A-line numbers to be silhouetted around the hip.
The neckline, too, is very different from Tom Ford's preferred high-neck detailing, as Manish's dress has a deep V-neck, which actually makes the frame breathier and more relaxed. As individualistic as the two creations are, we have to wonder if Tom Ford's signature design was on Malhotra's mood board when he came up with Malaika's custom-made birthday number.