If you grew up on Doordarshan telecasts and dog-eared Femina issues, stop scrolling — three women, one gilded stage, and the combined legacy that invented Indian glamour as we know it just reunited. Also read | Isha Ambani, Shloka Mehta and Radhika Merchant are a vision in couture at Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla’s 40th anniversary
On September 6, Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla — the designer duo whose name is synonymous with unapologetic Indian maximalism — marked 40 years of the eponymous label with a theatrical opening of a new flagship store in Mumbai – Mubarak Baug. Set against a backdrop of gold-cut archways, the evening was a reunion of muses. And then, the most unexpected reunion of all happened.
An iconic frame at Mubarak Baug
On September 9, the Miss India Organisation posted a clip with the caption: “How often do you get three trailblazing queens in one frame?! Miss Universe 1992 second runner-up Madhu Sapre, Miss India Universe 1989–90 Suzanne Sablok and Miss Asia 1976 runner-up Anna Bredemeyer came together for a truly iconic moment at the 40-year celebration of ace designer duo Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla.”
The video itself is pure Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla drama meets pageant history. It is split-screen — then and now. On top is the present: the three women posed together at Mubarak Baug. From left to right: Madhu Sapre, instantly recognisable with her thick black hair, in a printed long jacket-kurta set covered in giant motifs, worn over a black top. At the centre is Suzanne Sablok, in a regal blue Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla sharara set, and to her right is Anna Bredemeyer, luminous in an ivory and gold kurta-jacket ensemble.
Below them, is the throwback: Madhu in black-and-white, beaming in her Miss India sash and crown, circa 1992, Suzanne, adjusting her crown in a purple sequinned saree from her 1989-90 reign, and Anna Bredemeyer in a vintage shot, sash on, the quintessential 70s supermodel pose.
Are they all Miss India winners?
Madhu Sapre won Femina Miss India Universe in 1992 and went on to become 2nd runner-up at Miss Universe 1992 — a placement that, at the time, put India back on the global pageant map after years. Supermodel, and the face that defined the 90s with her athletic grace, she herself posted from the evening, writing in her September 8 Instagram post: “Mubarak Abu and Sandeep… what a wonderful way to celebrate 40 years and so happy to be here with you. We share a long history of several fab shows… looking forward to many more great times.”
Suzanne Sablok was crowned Miss India in 1989-90 — and she officially represented India at Miss Universe 1990, where she made it to the Top 10 as a semi-finalist. And then there is Anna Bredemeyer — while she was reportedly never a Miss India, she is, as fashion archivists will tell you, India’s OG (original) supermodel. She was a runner-up at Miss Asia 1976.
The internet can’t keep calm
The comments under the Miss India Organisation post were a collective memory exercise. “Love them all. The icons,” one Instagram user wrote. “Gorgeous then and now,” said another. One more commented, “Madhu Sapre is an icon, a legend and a true star of beauty pageants.” Another added: “I don’t think Suzanne Sablok and Anna Bredmeyer were ‘Femina’ Miss Indias. I think in those days it was Eves Weekly or Bombay Dyeing.”
For 40 years, Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla have dressed India’s icons — from Jaya Bachchan to Sonam Kapoor — in excess that stays rooted. And now women — Madhu Sapre, Suzanne Sablok, Anna Bredemeyer— who once represented India in gowns and swimsuits returned in heirloom kurtas. It was more of a homecoming, not just nostalgia.
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