New Delhi: Taj Umaid Bhavan Palace was the venue for the glittering Vogue India launch, predictably graced by the country’s leading style divas. Silhouetted against a starry, Rajasthani desert night sky, the moon-lit marble pavilion in the royal palace lawns became the epicenter of a gala weekend where elegance and sophistication found a new idiom, this time in the Indian context.

Privileged guests were flown into Jodhpur from Mumbai and Delhi on private Kingfisher charters. Priety Zinta and Ness Wadia, Bipasha Basu, Karan Johar, Gauri Khan, Milind Soman, Arjun Rampal, Rahul Khanna, Tarun Tahiliani, Dino Morea, Farah Khan with her husband DJ Aqueel, Manish Malhotra, Rocky S and Shobha De were some of the celebrities who were dolled up in their Sunday best.

According to Alex Kuruvilla, managing director, Conde Nast India, “It has taken a year of planning to execute this launch and to ensure that our guests enjoy the true Vogue experience.”

Preity Zinta wore a Surily Goel pink gown and silver belt locked around her waist while Bipasha Basu opted for a shimmering green and white cocktail dress from Gauri and Nainika Karan.

Specially curated exhibition

Guests were escorted into Marwar Hall where Vogue archivist and author, Robin Muir had curated an exhibit of iconic images from fashion and reportage photography over the decades, showcasing the magazines’s “love affair with India”.

Shot in India for the British, French, Italian, American, Japanese and Indian editions of Vogue, and spanning the years from 1934 to 2007, the collection featured work by leading fashion photographers and their, often, equally famous subjects.

Style gurus who worked on India specific themes

Befiting the magazine’s global positioning, style gurus like Salvatore Ferragamo displayed 10 of his most famous, historic and exquisite shoes for the Indian audience.

‘Vogue Inspired’ also had original ensembles from European design houses who contributed couture from their upcoming fall collections.

New stars on the international ramp from Ford modeling agency vied with Indian supermodels, in what turned out to be a global line-up of beauty. Supermodel Lily Cole, appears in the launch issue and is happy with both the way the magazine looks and the way she has been projected on the cover.