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Died: Jeannie Naoroji, 96, champion of Indian fashion, on October 3, 2021, in Bombay.
Considered by many as the first lady of contemporary Indian fashion, Vogue, in a tribute, called Naoroji, the choreographer, fashion designer and producer of fashion shows, "the woman who shaped the Indian fashion industry.” Former model and writer Shobhaa De told the magazine, "Jeannie understood fashion, lighting, music, choreography and pure theater! Her shows were dramatic super productions that made stars out of ‘Jeannie’s Girls’ as we were called.” As noted fashion stylist and designer Anaita Shroff Adajania in Vogue, Jeannie "brought love, professionalism and her own distinct style to fashion presentations in India.” Added fashion designer Neeta Lulla, "She was the one who brought flair to Indian fashion. The shows she would put on at the Taj or on luxury cruise ships that docked in the city were something India had never seen before.”
"She was named Rodabeh at birth, but as she was tiny, the family nicknamed her Jeeni,” Naoroji’s Sydney-based son Nadish, who assisted his mother with sound arrangements, told Parsiana. He was backstage with her in almost all of her shows before emigrating in 1990. Calling her "an amazing mother,” he recalled her "great sense of fun…She was a very, very social person… She set aside her work over the weekends.” These were devoted to sailing and relaxation on the beach in Mandwa. "There were endless parties at our place there.” Jeannie was married to Kershasp (Kerse) Naoroji, an ardent yachtsman and director of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born to Bakhtawar and Dorabji Minwalla in Karachi in undivided India, Jeannie continued to study ballet until a week before her wedding in 1951. Nadish and his sister Nadina told Parsiana that "Jeannie would cycle everywhere in Karachi with her siblings Tehmurasp (Tim), Nergish, Khorshed, Hoshang, Mickoo (Franey) and Rohinton and their cousins. She and her cousin Veera Minwalla were star ballet pupils and they were asked to dance for the Shah of Iran on his visit to Karachi.”
Jeannie’s "lifelong friend and business partner” Hilla Divecha, who is currently indisposed, conveyed her thoughts via four short video messages to Parsiana. They were coordinated by her daughter Tushna. "We had a firm called India on Show…The firm took Indian fashions and fabric and textiles to places like Russia, Europe and Iran…It was fantastic how people were impressed by what India could do.” Calling their shows "very, very contemporary,” Hilla reminisced about set design by Sam Kerawalla and sound by Sarosh Bhabha. "Jeannie as a person was very volatile, flamboyant and dramatic…She made friends easily… I was the more reserved and practical one…I think I was a good balance with her… We had similar sensibilities.”
Ex-model Salome Roy Kapur who worked with Jeannie for nearly a decade told Parsiana on October 9, "You never knew what to expect from Jeannie… She was so full of ideas…She had a unique way of disciplining us…Under her sharp tongue, you knew that she cared for all her models.” Jeannie’s caregiver Nadina was a great aid during the senior lady’s final ailing years, stated Roy Kapur. "Jeannie was always what she called ‘tip-top’ till the end, down to her manicured nails…All credit to Nadina.”
"Shahibaug, Asia 1972, Burlington ship shows, fashion show tours with Calico, DCM, and Eve’s Weekly and Femina beauty pageants, it was indeed a glorious ride, with Jeannie at the helm and Hilla by her side,” narrated ex model Gulnar Jeffries, now Connecticut, USA based, who worked with Jeannie in the 1970s. "Jeannie was the ultimate captain, fashion designer, choreographer, teacher, mother, all rolled into one. She brought out the best in us models, and has left an everlasting impression on us. She was truly one of a kind!” she communicated to Parsiana on October 10.
Erstwhile model and author Meher Castellino’s association with Jeannie went back to 1961. "Jeannie at that time was the make-up artist for the models using the Lakmé brand of cosmetics,” launched a decade earlier, she wrote in a detailed email to us. "A few years later Jeannie turned into a choreographer of fashion shows, being a ballet dancer herself.” Castellino, who modelled for all of Jeannie’s shows from 1969 to 1975 recalls that Jeannie’s first show was for the Eve’s Weekly Miss India contest in 1969 "when she introduced the swarthy six-foot Phyllis Mendes as a model. "She broke all fashion rules of using only fair, curvy models…She also brought in the fashion of modelling bare feet for saris and Indian garments… The biggest innovation she brought was the concept of using recorded music for the shows, and making models dance and move around on the stage instead of walking like mannequins on a ramp,” lauded Castellino.
Jeannie began her career in the early 1950s as a fundraiser for the National Association for the Blind and the Maharashtra State Women’s Council. "We had to do a fashion show for the institutions. Someone saw me dancing to music and asked me to choreograph fashion shows…And that’s how it began,” the fashion designer had told mid-day in 2016 when she was awarded the Ladli Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jeannie is survived by her son Nadish and daughter Nadina.