Keep your 'hut' on for this party

Jonathan Mizzi with fashion designer Saloni Lodha. Photo: Dave Bennett

When one of the world’s most sought-after fashion designers decided to celebrate her brand’s 10th anniversary by throwing a huge party, she entrusted a Maltese design agency to translate her vision into reality.

Jonathan Mizzi and his team at Mizzi Studio have won universal acclaim – and a cabinet full of awards – for projects that merge sci-fi, animation and neo-futurist architectural design.

Their recent work in Udaipur, Rajasthan, on behalf of Saloni Lodha, combined all these elements and more.

The concept was inspired by the astonishing celebration of Holi, the annual festival of colour that sees crowds throw multi-coloured powder at each other in an explosion of laughter, fun and festivity.

To develop this concept, Mizzi Studio worked with local artisans for one month to create an enchanting walled secret garden in the grounds of the Raas Devigarh Palace Hotel.

Mr Mizzi created a series of futuristic pods that would celebrate Indian design through a contemporary re-invention, in the same way that the Indian-born Ms Saloni has drawn on her heritage to reinterpret prints, silhouettes and colours.

Celebrations inside a hut. Photo: Mizzi Studio/Philip Lim

The secret garden, covering 1,000 square metres, also needed to act as a living canvas for its visitors who would be invited to engage in the traditional ritual of Holi within the area.

Using local materials, the studio married traditional Indian craft with their signature sculptural forms to create a collection of colourfully painted mud-plastered and weaved huts, bars and seating areas collectively making a surreal and fantastical set to showcase Ms Saloni’s new designs.

Joined together to form an experiential and immersive landscape, these structures were complemented by domed roofs inlaid with tiny mirrors that reflected light and colour, bringing this unique Secret Garden to life in new and enchanting ways.

Each individual design was placed to maximise its surroundings. No matter where a visitor stood within the garden, they could enjoy the breath-taking views of the Raas Devigarh Palace and the hills beyond.

A central ceiling puncture – dubbed the Moon Hole – provided framed vistas of the 18th century palace which, as the sun went down, stood majestically bathed in moonlight.

Among the 130 international guests who were mesmerised by both Mizzi Studio’s incredible backdrop and Ms Saloni’s latest capsule collection, were hotel tycoon Rocco Forte’s daughters, Lydia and Irene, Samantha Cameron’s sister – and former Vogue deputy editor – Emily Sheffield, stylist Martha Ward and Ernest Hemingway’s actress great-granddaughter, Dree.

Ms Saloni said: “Only Jonathan could have taken this blueprint and created something so magical.”