Design Journey with Peter D'Ascoli

A New Yorker of Italian descent, Peter D’Ascoli has the design pedigree of being formally trained in Textile Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and working as the studio director for Diane Von Furstenberg for a number of years.

- VARUNI MOHAN

A sojourn to India in his twenties to work with handcrafted textiles for the Indian government was the start of a lasting love of the art, design heritage and culture of our country. In 2006, Peter founded the Talianna Studio in New Delhi, a design and product development atelier that creates luxury fabrics for interior decoration. He has enjoyed drawing and painting from a young age, and says, “Even now as I think about it, it seems that when I look at patterns and colours it activates some sort of pleasure mechanism in my brain. I was not naturally attracted to fashion or textiles, but I had one exceptional art teacher in high school who told me that I should go and study textile design.” Peter approaches his work in a two-fold manner — the first as a creative, and the second as an entrepreneur. In both regards, he has emerged as an industry leader. Explaining his evolution as a creative he says, “In the beginning my inspiration was the lure of fantasy and adventure, which would have an enormous influence on my work. I have always been inspired by diverse cultures, almost like a geographical explorer and a historian. I believe the leadership of any design business