Designer dresses are an important core category at Ensemble. From a day at the office to a casual brunch or a working lunch or even to a formal soiree or a cocktail party, pick from a variety of top designers like Tarun Tahiliani, Anamika Khanna, Amit Aggarwal or Gauri & Nainika at Ensemble. You can also explore dresses by upcoming new talents like SWGT, Notebook and Chandrima. Either way, you will find the best quality and sharpest curation of dresses available at both the Ensemble website and our stores.

The merchandising team at Ensemble works closely with designers to ensure the latest, most exclusive and on-trend collection of dresses at the best prices, both for our online shop and 5 stores across Mumbai and Delhi.

From effortless contemporary clothing to formal and elegant styles, Ensemble curates a wide range of designer dresses. For easy everyday clothing, Ensemble works with labels like Bodice, SavioJon, Lovebirds, Payal Pratap, Rajesh Pratap, Ituvana, Indian Marigold, Notebook, Rara Avis and Dhruv Kapoor. India’s textile heritage is a key concern for Ensemble; it’s fair to say we’re obsessed with weaves! For this category of dresses, we collaborate with textile designers like Eka, Maku, SWGT, Amrich, Medium, Peachoo, Ikai, Injiri and Tilla to promote organic and sustainable clothing on the global arena. Then there are designers like Antar Agni, Chola, Rishta by Arjun Saluja, Rashmi Varma, Aikeyah, Stephany and Payal Khandwala who experiment with drapes and pattern making to create beautiful silhouettes. Associating with the more experimental designers, Ensemble adds a fresh and modern outlook to the dress category offering. When it comes to luxury evening wear, Ensemble has a clan of designers under its umbrella, creating ultra glamorous dresses with Indian embellishments apt for formal occasions, evenings and cocktails. Amit Aggarwal, Manish Malhotra, Dilnaz, 431-88, Rohit Gandhi Rahul Khanna, Sharnita Nandwana, Gauri & Nainika, Nikhil Thampi, Malini Ramani, Abhishek Sharma and Aikeyah Couture are a few of the top designers serving the elemental evening cocktail dress category. Tarun Tahiliani, known as the master of drapes and the one who started the trend of evening dresses in India, captures a major segment of evening western dresses at Ensemble with his collections. One can also find contemporary dress silhouettes in the traditional Indian mould. Ensemble retails with designers like Anamika Khanna, Payal Singhal, Half Full Curve and Chandrima to cater to the indo-western category of dresses.

At ensembleindia.com, one can find a vast variety of exclusive designer dresses appropriate for any occasion at incredible prices.

The Collins English Dictionary defines a dress to be “a piece of clothing for a woman or girl that covers the body and part or all of the legs.” Technically speaking, a dress is a garment made up of a bodice with or without sleeves or a collar and extends into a skirt of diverse styles and variable lengths. Initially emerging from the west, dresses in the 1700s had frilly, floor-length hoop skirts which were attached with corsets to create dresses! Today, dresses are more of a comfortable, easy and effortless nature, whether it’s for a casual day look or a special occasion. Over time, India has developed its own taste and design language when it comes to designer dresses, varying from influenced western silhouettes to ones blended with traditional drapes, embellishments and crafts.

While there are numerous ways to classify dresses, the most common way is based on the length of the dress, ranging from upper thigh (known as mini), mid-thigh, till the knee, below the knee, mid-calf (often known as midi), and till the ankle (often known as maxi) dresses. Other versions are based on the styling and cut-sew pattern of the dresses where the most familiar prevailing contemporary styles are shift, bodycon, wrap, empire waist, peplum, sheath, pencil, slip, princess, tube, shirt and asymmetric dresses. While the term dress generally refers to a western garment, India has its own take on this category and type of silhouettes. A-line maxi dresses are inspired from kalidaar tunics and high-low dresses can be interpreted as a tunic without pants. These examples are the dress variations derived from traditional Indian shapes. Detailed with minimal prints or contemporary elements like ruffles, stripes, checks, pin tucks, crochet buttons for daily wear, or elevating it for Indian occasions with varying embroideries and beadwork, dresses suitable for a global and Indian context can be found across all the Ensemble stores and our website ensembleindia.com.

Your dress should be appropriate to the occasion and requirement. Choose the right kind of dress with Ensemble online. The pastel colour palette of Notebook, SavioJon, Ikai, Maku or Eka in weaves of cotton, chanderi, linen and poplin are relevant for summers and daily outings. For a formal evening or business seminar, look at the silks of Injiri, Lovebirds and Amrich. Planning to attend a haldi ceremony and don’t want to be dressed in ethnic clothes? There are indo-western silhouettes and drapes in dresses from Aikeyah, Rashmi Varma and Chandrima to consider. Create a minimalistic yet statement ensemble from an Anamika Khanna dress or a Tarun Tahiliani drape at your friend’s destination wedding. For a colour splash at a beach vacation or a resort bachelorette, coordinate your look by wearing Stephany’s georgettes, Payal Khandwala’s pleats or Saaksha Kinni’s printed organzas. Go with a tiered dress from Aikeyah Couture, a sequined dress from Dilnaz or a beaded dress from Rohit Gandhi Rahul Khanna for a cocktail or a black tie affair.

Ensemble helps you choose the right dress for your style and personality. Out of numerous silhouettes and designers, we help you find a modern wardrobe staple. We recommend you buy a summer white dress in traditional Indian textile weaves as there’s nothing like the feel of pure handloom. Invest in a traditional art like a bandhani tie and dye, jamdani weaves, shibori dyes or handcrafted embroideries which are sure to make you stand out in a crowd. Opt for an evening dress detailed with drapes or embellishments for formal events and layer it up with accessories for different looks. Infuse an element of your distinctive style in your clothing by opting for eccentric embellishments, asymmetrical quirky elements (for example, a Nikhil Thampi one sleeve dress), fun detailing or special fabric choices like handloom or hand woven. Experiment with silhouettes that work for your body shape – be it a cinch waist empire line dress for a perfectly shaped waist, a coat dress to emphasize your shoulders, or an A-line silhouette that’s forgiving in all the right places. For more styling advice, get in touch with our in-house stylist on +91 93727 42843 or care@ensembleindia.com.

Bollywood style icons including Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif are often seen wearing different style designer dresses on different occasions. From wearing a Chola dress for an airport look to Lovebirds for a casual outing with friends, there is a dress for every moment. These celebrity actresses are repeatedly seen dressing up in a Manish Malhotra cocktail dress or an Amit Aggarwal structured gown for dinners and cocktails. For a professional engagement or promotion, they are often dressed in casual dresses by Nikhil Thampi, Notebook, Ikai or 431-88.