PAYAL KHANDWALA

SINCE HER DEBUT IN FASHION IN 2012, HER SHARPLY TAILORED, COLOUR-BLOCKED GARMENTS HAVE BECOME ICONIC FAVOURITES. AS WE VISIT HER APARTMENT IN A 120-YEAR-OLD BUILDING IN SOUTH MUMBAI, WE SEE HER MAVERICK SPIRIT SPILL INTO THE INTERIORS, WHERE EVERY DETAIL IS PRECISE AND EVERY DESIGN DECISION IS CONSIDERED.

- SRIDEVI NAMBIAR

A personal note on Payal

BY PINAKIN PATEL

Many years ago, I was working with Payal's parents to design their home. It's when I first met this talented teenager who was in fashion school at the time. She asked me if there was a profession where she could be in total control of her own craft. I remember we discussed art being that medium with total control.

From that day on, I've been systematically, even diabolically, sucked into her life. As a BFF, mentor, sin redeemer, fellow fashion aficionado, gossip buddy and several other descriptions that don't concern AD!

When she got into Parsons School of Design in New York, she grumbled that her teacher was trying to remind her of some childhood trauma that would become an inspiration for her art. When her dean insisted that she stay four years instead of one, guess who had to call the mother to convince her? I had become a broker in her life, explaining her needs to her parents: "she wants to stay on her own"; "she wants to marry Vikram"; "she wants to get married in my Alibag house"... and so on. At some point, her husband, Vikram, supported her with so much love that I was relieved of my duties. Their marriage produced two hits. First, baby Mira, who's now a rock star teenager. Second, the brand Payal Khandwala. I am now free of her. And I begrudgingly end this personal note with one absolute truth—Payal is a rare designer with an evolved sense of art and aesthetic. This glimpse into her home is to witness a slice of her creative life.