Meet Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor: Dior's first South Asian global ambassador with ties to King and Beckhams

Every manner month, paparazzi flash and fans flock to Sonam Kapoor arsenic she takes her spot connected the beforehand row. Quickly, everyone learnt she is 1 of Bollywood’s biggest stars; the impeccably dressed histrion who counts 35.3 cardinal Instagram followers, calls Notting Hill home, and is present Dior’s archetypal South Asian planetary ambassador.

She besides owns a mansion successful Delhi, a Mumbai pad wherever she hosted a invited enactment for David Beckham erstwhile helium travelled to India past November (“we were precise blessed to big him,” she says), and has an enviable UK web which besides counts the royal family — she was asked to execute a portion of spoken connection for the King’s Coronation performance successful May 2023.

In India, Kapoor, 39, is champion known for her starring movie roles successful Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and Neerja, and has been joined to Anand Ahuja, 1 of India’s top apparel manufacturers (net worth: a chill $650 million), since 2018. In Europe and the US, though, she is recognised arsenic an haute couture client; 1 of a hyper-privileged clique of precise affluent women who tin fathom dropping upward of $100,000 connected a dress. 

There is simply a quality betwixt herself and the stars she sits with astatine manner shows — beryllium that Central Cee astatine Tommy Hilfiger successful New York, oregon Natalie Portman astatine Dior Couture successful Paris. As good arsenic being seen, Kapoor is determination to spell shopping. “There is nary specified happening arsenic being overdressed,” she tells me. “I ever extremity up buying thing from immoderate amusement that I spell to. I consciousness I request to prime up thing that I privation to beryllium a portion of my wardrobe. I deliberation of it arsenic collecting creation — and I similar bully clothes.” 

She has a wont of letting gaffe fabulous (if wildly unrelatable) lines: “I’m a Gemini, however I formal each depends connected my temper — sometimes I conscionable deterioration a T-shirt, large balloon skirt and tons of jewels connected the reddish carpet, different days I’ll deterioration a beauteous Giambattista Valli gown.” But for each campy froth, she takes manner seriously. “I look astatine designers arsenic artists defining the mode radical look implicit time. If you look astatine the Sixties oregon the Seventies, you’re looking astatine Geoffrey Beene, YSL and Cristóbal Balenciaga,” she says. “They are historians successful the mode they’re defining the mode radical look.” 

And who is doing that for 2024? “Phoebe Philo,” she says, of the cult decorator whose eponymous marque motorboat successful October — pursuing a hiatus aft her 2008 to 2017 stint astatine the apical of Celine — was the astir hyped successful caller history. “I bought her full collection.” She is hardly being hyperbolic. While manner insiders were engaged re-sharing memes mocking Philo’s extortionate prices (shearling coats outgo £12,000, XL bags £6,500 and heels £1,100), Kapoor was 1 of those cheerily clicking ‘add to bag’. Two-thirds of the archetypal driblet sold retired successful 24 hours. Her buying database (for anyone intrigued) read: “The olive coat; the olive acceptable suit set; the grey suit set; 1 handbag; immoderate shoes; sunglasses; the scarf top; a achromatic blazer; trousers; different grey acceptable — I bought a lot,” she says. “I mean, I’m obsessed with Phoebe.” As for her review: “I didn’t instrumentality thing from her collection, I didn’t request to. It conscionable acceptable maine similar a glove.” 

Kapoor was ever going to beryllium stylish. She was calved successful Chembur, Bombay (present-day Mumbai) successful 1985 to Anil Kapoor, the Bollywood histrion and producer, and Sunita, a exemplary and manner designer-turned-jewellery designer. “She was wearing Japanese designers 40 years ago; Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons — I knew each the designers due to the fact that of her,” she says. She went connected to committee astatine the United World College, a British schoolhouse successful Singapore, earlier taking connected breakthrough acting roles successful I Hate Luv Storys, Aisha and Raanjhanaa.

Jean Paul Gaultier was the archetypal large decorator to formal her for a reddish carpet — “it was the Cannes Film Festival [in 2011]. He was truly benignant and leant maine an archive dress” — and since, she has built up a Rolodex of decorator collaborators which illustration the astir influential figures of 21st period fashion. 

Dior was the archetypal location she developed a long-standing concern with. “They person dressed maine astir since I was astir 20,” she says. “I’ve seen each the antithetic designers — whether it was [John] Galliano, Raf [Simons] and present Maria Grazia Chiuri.” She has formed a adjacent enslaved with the latter, and arsenic specified led arrivals (in dusty pinkish Dior silk, nary less) erstwhile Chiuri showed Dior’s Pre-Fall 2023 postulation successful Mumbai, nether the Gateway of India, to radiance a airy connected the county’s affluent past of sartorial craftsmanship. 

“For years, my champion person has done embroidery for each the apical European houses, and her household has been doing it for 45 years minimum. I cognize that whether it was Escada, Valentino, Dior, Chanel — astir of the embroidery happens successful India,” she says. “Maria Grazia was the 1 who acknowledged it and celebrated it. That’s special, due to the fact that you request to know. There should beryllium transparency wherever things are being made.” 

Sarah Burton, originative manager of Alexander McQueen from 2010 to 2023, “would conscionable marque the astir beauteous silhouettes,” she purrs, and “anything Galliano made would conscionable acceptable close connected me”. She loves The Row, gets her suits from Victoria Beckham and Saint Laurent, portion Tommy Hilfiger “is similar household — if helium asks maine to bash something, I bash it.” 

But it was Emilia Wickstead, the New Zealand-born, London-based decorator and Princess of Wales favourite that Kapoor asked to marque the formal she wore to contiguous the Choir of the Commonwealth during the Coronation concert. “It was specified a large assemblage truthful I was a small tense — it was the full satellite watching — but I felt similar I was successful my element,” she says. Wickstead made her an off-shoulder, chintz printed formal with Kapoor’s person and Indian decorator Anamika Khanna. It was a governmental statement. “I purposely wore chintz, due to the fact that it is [a textile] from India which Europeans and the English person claimed. I wanted to archer radical that a batch of the things that person been exported into the West, and the West person claimed, are really precise Indian,” she says. 

As for the King, she is supportive: “I was truly blessed due to the fact that a batch of the things that the contiguous King is passionate about, similar the environment, are things I americium arsenic well.” At the meal enactment that followed, she attests to the royal household being “very benignant and precise sweet”. 

Kapoor’s beingness presently revolves astir her young lad (“he’s astatine the property helium is moving everyplace now”). She has taken the clip disconnected enactment to rise him — “I’m precise lucky, I person a batch of help, but I similar to beryllium precise involved” — and present is primed for her instrumentality to the screen. Projects see a movie called Battle for Bittora — “which I’m going to commencement filming precise soon” —  while the announcement of 2 further large fund films are to come. 

She makes clip for fittingness with a regular that includes “pilates 3 times a week. Weight grooming 3 times a week. I bash yoga arsenic often arsenic I tin and I effort not to devour sweetener and fried worldly — but each 10 to 15 days I interruption and I person immoderate benignant of sugar”, and is doing her champion to cleanable the enactment / household beingness balance. “I’m inactive learning. I’m not cleanable and I’m trying my best,” she says. 

Kapoor does person 1 mandate: not to stock her lad with her followers. “I’m not going to enactment him connected societal media — helium didn’t take this. When helium is aged capable to marque his prime helium tin bash it for himself, but portion helium is truthful tiny I don’t privation to exposure him astatine all.” I wonderment if her follower number ever burdens her, but she shrugs it off. “I conscionable effort to usage it responsibly, and astatine the aforesaid clip effort to showcase who I americium and talk astir things that I judge successful — sometimes I adjacent person amusive with it,” she says. “But that’s erstwhile I person the time. Right now, my lad is my precedence — I don’t station that much.” 

One lawsuit radical did privation a look into was the Ambani wedding, betwixt the lad of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest person, and Radhika Merchant. The pre-wedding — which saw a guestlist counting the champion of Bollywood arsenic good arsenic Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and a show from Rihanna past March — had a chokehold connected Instagram and TikTok. “It was amazing, Indian weddings are the best,” she says. “And Rihanna is ever fabulous.”

And arsenic for the large day: well, you mightiness conscionable see dropping $100,000 connected the dress.