Kumail Nanjiani surprised desis worldwide by opting to wear a sherwani on the red carpet for Marvel’s Eternals. The designer? Pakistan’s very own Umar Sayeed!
As the first Pakistani actor to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) made his way to the Eternals premiere, he opted to wear a sherwani by Umar Sayeed.
The Big Sick creator is playing a superhero Kingo in the Marvel movie based on the 1976 comic by Jack Kirby. The Eternals cast includes bigwigs like Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, and Kit Harington.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Pakistani-American star asked his mother, Shabana, to help him pick the perfect outfit. That’s how he ended up deciding on a sherwani. Then his stylist Jeanne Yang connected him to a Pakistani designer Umar Sayeed via Instagram.
“I wanted to wear a sherwani because 1. They look awesome and 2. My costume in the film always reminded me of sherwanis, … and I wanted to use a designer in Pakistan, not just a Pakistani designer in the US. So I called my mum, she gave me names of three amazing designers in Pakistan.”
In fact, Kumail Nanjiani was ging for the look his Eternals costume had. The Pakistani designer was shown the actor’s on-screen costume and asked to create a sherwani with the same colors. The result was a Mughal-like purple and gold sherwani.
“I wanted the colors to be similar to my costume colors, … Purple and gold are a beautiful combination. The paisley pattern is very traditional as well.”
Umar Sayeed also shared pictures of Kumail Nanjiani wearing his bespoke creation to the red carpet. The Pakistani designer described the experience, saying he’s ‘very humbled and excited’ to see the Stuber actor wearing his creation at the premiere.
“It was a pleasure working with him and his team.”
What did you think of the look? Let us know in the comments below.
