Hollywood History of the Bandhgala

The meteoric rise of Hollywood’s influence began during the silent film era from the 1920s to the 1930s. It was during these two decades that fashion and style became truly synonymous with the entertainment industry.

Over the years, Hollywood has seen and endured many fashion trends. Mostly taking cues from Italian fashion houses and French haute couture designers. It was only decades later that fashion from the Eastern world were slowly embraced. When Hollywood finally incorporated Asian designs, it brought on game changing elements that introduced refreshing aesthetics and silhouettes to create a new wave of global fashion appeal. Here’s a look back at how Hollywood has evolved to come to embrace Eastern fashion aesthetics:

If you know of any popular culture, then you’ll know that one of the very first emergence of Asian inspired designs was worn by none other than the Beatles in the 1960s during the band’s biggest British tour. Their iconic grey youth suits incorporated partial designs from the Mandarin suit and the Bandhgala to produce a simple tailored look that is very quintessential of the 60s Mod culture. Later, the Beatles would also wear another variation of the Nehru jacket to perform at New York’s Shea Stadium back in 1965. Fast forward to modern times, the charming Nehru style made its way onto the wardrobes of another famous British boyband; with Harry Styles of One Direction sporting a black Nehru jacket embellished with intricate gold embroidery at the 2014 American Music Awards – proving that Nehru designs really are timeless.

When it comes to films and film costumes, Eastern fashion were first seen in global franchises like James Bond. In the first ever Bond film Dr. No. (1962), both Sean Connery (James Bond) and Joseph Wiseman (Dr. Julius No) wore a variation of the Nehru jacket. The now iconic five-button brown silk Nehru jacket worn by Connery/Bond was an instant hit and remains as one of the most stylish Bond looks ever in its franchise. Years later, a similar but more contemporary variation of the Nehru jacket later returned on-screen in the 2015 Bond film Spectre. Elsewhere in an alternate science fictional universe, a distinctive grey Mao and Bandhgala inspired suit can be seen on Mike Myers (Doctor Evil) in the 1997 film Austin Powers and of course, who could forget about the Nehru collared imperial military uniforms in the much-loved Star Wars franchise! Also noteworthy is the reimagined Nehru jackets in the hugely popular TV series Game of Thrones and the Bandhgala/Anchkan inspired look in Marvel’s Black Panther.

And off-screen? Stars like Vin Diesel, Nick Jonas, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Chadwick Boseman have all been seen sporting Eastern fashion – specifically wearing the Bandhgala suit on major red-carpet events. If you ask us, we think Hollywood has truly come full circle and we couldn’t be happier!

Head on over to check out Rathore’s Bandhgala jackets to get your own threads of Hollywood royalty.