Mesmerizing Indian Couture, Captured by the Sea

Designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla bring artistic sensibilities to everything they touch. Known in India and beyond for their work in both interior design and fashion, the two have produced intricate Indian couture since meeting in Mumbai in 1986. The book India Fantastique Fashion, out June 28 from Thames & Hudson, chronicles their mesmerizing designs.

“It is the art of captivatingly blending the traditional with the contemporary that Abu and Sandeep have perfected,” Nita M. Ambani writes in the book’s preface. The two designers were part of India’s fashion scene long before they met. At 19, Jani worked 12-hour shifts in a garage designing Bollywood outfits, while Khosla studied art both at home with his mother and at the Doon School in Kapurthala. When Jani and Khosla crossed paths they instantly clicked, creating designs that delicately walk the line between traditional and modern Indian styles, all with a forward-thinking aesthetic.

Click ahead to see shoots as dramatic as they are glamorous — a mosaic-like textured dress in the middle of a surreal desert, golden sheaths on beach-side cliffs, and sunflowers blooming between geometric bead embroidery.