Whether or not you were among the lucky fans who got to see Ed Sheeran Live in Mumbai this weekend, you couldn’t have missed the blue kurta he wore for a major part of his performance! Well, it has a story behind it. An, interesting one that too.

The eye-catching dupion silk blue Kurta was designed and gifted to Ed Sheeran by Farzana Cama Balpande, who runs BookMyShow’s charity initiative BookASmile. The kurta wasn’t even originally a part of his performance wardrobe and was gifted to the ginger haired singer less than couple of hours before he took the stage. The sheerios instantly fell in love with the ‘Shape of You’ star in his Indian attire.

The blue kurta, which Ed Sheeran paired with a comfortable pair of jeans, was inspired by his genre-defying third studio album ÷ (divide) that released earlier this year. It was a part of a specially put together ‘Welcome to India’ hamper by BookASmile which included many hand crafted and personalised goodies that brought Ed Sheeran a little bit closer to the Indian culture. These included a beautiful flute, made to order Ed Sheeran’s favourite gingerbread cookies, Kolhapuri Chappals, a postcard, mug among many other things.

Every element of the kurta was hand painted. When Farzana presented Ed Sheeran with it, his expression was priceless and he instantly decided to wear it for his performance.

Farzana Cama Balpande, Head of BookASmile, BookMyShow’s charity initiative said, “When Ed Sheeran performed in India for the first time in 2015, we noticed that he had worn a kurta. This time we decided to design and get one made for him, inspired by his album ÷ (divide). To give it a more Indian touch, his album name was written in Hindi at the back of the kurta. When we presented it to him, he was overjoyed and his reaction gave us hope that he may actually wear it for atleast some part of his performance. When he finally walked onto the stage wearing it, we were absolutely honoured and thrilled by his gesture. While he loved the entire hamper, we know the kurta was very special to him.” 

Well, India definitely fell in love with him a little bit more because of the kurta. Hope he returns to India soon.