Elle India December 2015
Elle India December 2015

If I can be half as stylish as these ladies in the Elle magazine this month, I’ll die a happy girl. I was just about finishing my first cup of tea this morning when I stumbled upon Elle’s digital editor, Sonam Savlani‘s social media page. Splashed on her timeline were pictures of the cutest grandmothers you’ve seen lately. Here’s another peek…

Elle India December 2015
Elle India December 2015

Of course I needed to know more, so I headed straight to the source. Nidhi Jacob, Elle‘s fashion editor, went to Bandra to cast real people and as you’d expect, it wasn’t a piece of cake. Here’s what she said…

It wasn’t easy to find willing participants, because I stalked people on the narrow streets of Bandra, and even fashion week. Finally, we landed up at bookings editor Parul Menezes‘ church, where we approached them. We met Wivina (Rose D’Silva) and Audrey (Pais) there. And Wivina mentioned she had a sister, Elsa, who we also roped in.

Elle India December 2015
Elle India December 2015

The women are wearing a great mix of Indian and International designers ranging from Zara and Charles & Keith to Péro, Hemant & Nandita and Valentino. It turns out, one of the ladies (Wivina) was approached to model years ago, but her mother never let her take it up. As you can imagine, she was most excited about the editorial. Here’s what Parul said,

It was really lovely to see such enthusiasm from these ladies, who I’ve interacted with for the longest time on various church events & associations. I almost could not believe their willing participation…

Elle India December 2015
Elle India December 2015

It was shot by Bikramjit Bose, styling by Nidhi Jacob, art direction by Reshma Rajiwdekar and make-up and hair by Sandhya Shekar.

Elle India December 2015
Elle India December 2015

And lastly, can you imagine how stylish their grandchildren must be?

Elle India December 2015
Elle India December 2015