The morning after Aradhana Chand attended an awards show earlier this year, the phone rang. It was a friend asking if she would speak to a French TV channel for a show called Haute Definition. “They required an Indian woman who was comfortable with couture without being a slave to brands. I agreed to speak to them, not realising that the show was being produced by the biggest name in French television, Emanuel Chain, and would be telecast on prime time on TF1, France’s top-rated channel.” And just like that, the fashion passion of Aradhana Chand beamed into space and back into the land of haute couture.

She’s always been a lover of style. On the verge of heading to Milan’s prestigious Instituto Marangoni to study fashion design, she changed her mind and got married instead. Today, she takes on select fashion styling projects in New York and Milan, frequent stops for this maven from Mumbai. “I favour chic, understated, monochromatic looks, with minimal accessories. I enjoy wearing outfits where the focus is on cut and structure rather than embellishments. My style has become even more understated over the years.” Her one weakness? “Shoes are my favourite accessory. Very often, I work an entire look around a pair of beautiful shoes,” she says.

With her flair for understatement and low-key luxe, it’s small wonder that the director of Haute Definition, Jerome Dindar, considers her as one “among the most stylish women in Mumbai”. Aradhana Chand is not a fashion victim – if anything, ‘fashion victor’ is more like it.

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