Shop Talk

This episode of Shop Talk features a conversation with the 38 year old Pabiben Rabari, an embroidery artisan and crafts entrepreneur from Bhadroi village of Kutch, Gujarat. From embroidering since she was seven to make ends meet, to sharing the stage with actor Amitabh Bachchan on Kaun Banega Crorepati, and now becoming the face of an award-winning crafts gift box—Pabiben has come a long way. In this episode, she offers her t...

Does great personal style contribute to the making of a successful fashion enterprise? Should one buy vintage fashion for the love of it or to be more mindful? Shefalee Vasudev joins stylist, fashion entrepreneur and classical dancer Pernia Qureshi to address these questions. Qureshi is known to have uniquely mixed her personal style and entrepreneurial choices, having created and curated e-commerce platforms Pernia’s Pop-up ...

Acclaimed fashion stylist Ekta Rajani in conversation with Shefalee Vasudev underlines the evolving contours of fashion in India in this edition of Shop Talk. Rajani offers insights on the influence of a stylist, who is pivotal to the fashion industry, while she emphasises on the importance of individuality and confidence as cornerstones of being stylish today, from dressing to evoke power to prioritising comfort. The former fashio...

Episode 9: Why Silver is Having a Golden Moment

This episode of Shop Talk offers insights from two jewellery mavericks—Tarang Arora, creative director, Amrapali Jewels and Bhavya Ramesh, founder of her eponymous brand—on the qualities that make silver a leader in the contemporary jewellery market. A second generation jeweller, Tarang credits the metal’s malleability, affordability and viability for design innovati...

Shefalee Vasudev speaks with mother-son duo, Anita and Yash Dongre, who are at the helm of one of India’s most successful fashion businesses, The House of Anita Dongre. Talking points include the 25 years old company’s family to firm transition, its commercial success rooted in empathy and a sharp reading of customer preferences, spread across a robust portfolio of daily wear to bridal labels. Yash Dongre, credited for ...

JJ Valaya, one of India’s senior most couturiers is known to celebrate maximalism in his opulent and detailed lehngas and sherwanis, while his journey of over three decades mirrors the growth and evolution of Indian fashion itself. In the latest episode of Shop Talk, Valaya offers insight on his design process that includes the layering of intricately detailed embroideries, as he explains that ‘timelessness’ will ...

In the sixth episode of Shop Talk, Shefalee Vasudev is joined by celebrity makeup artist and influencer Shraddha Naik and Darpan Sanghvi, co-founder of MyGlamm, one of India’s fastest growing makeup brands. Together they discuss why lipsticks continue to rule even as the consumer remains masked, the therapeutic shades of the product during the lockdown and how conscious beauty is a game-changer in the industry. Naik also shar...

Mumbai-based designer Payal Singhal’s occasion and bridalwear creations accentuated through prints and bohemian details are functional and fun in equal parts. In the fifth episode of Shop Talk, Singhal talks about the evolution of her more than two decades old eponymous brand, its customer-led innovations and socially relevant messaging and product lines. In a layered conversation with Shefalee Vasudev, she opens up about med...

In this episode of Shop Talk, Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra, founders of the fashion brand Shantanu & Nikhil, chat about reimagining masculinity in Indian fashion by bringing forth ideas of androgyny, military-chic, nationalism and nostalgia. The duo open up about strategies and the inspiration behind creating celebration menswear without making it ceremonial, while strengthening the brand through thoughtful association with Bollyw...

Jaya Jaitly, an eminent crafts practitioner, activist, politician and president, Dastkari Haat Samiti founded India’s most celebrated crafts bazaar, Dilli Haat in 1986. In this third episode of Shop Talk, Jaitly speaks to host Shefalee Vasudev about the evolution of Dilli Haat as it completes 35 years and the relevance of a crafts bazaar in the booming e-commerce and handloom dominated retail scenario. The crafts doyen also d...

The couturier of ballroom dresses and fantastical gowns who creates glamour and sensuality with his clothes talks of fashion as a tool to ignite sex appeal, beauty and confidence in the lives of consumers. Addressing the real reason behind people seeking clothes made of fluid fabrics that cascade like liquid, sexy-lacy bridal creations or smart menswear that conveys a certain aesthetic, Gupta talks of the contemporary consumer&rsqu...

Well-known textile designer, artist, fashion secularist, visual thinker Sanjay Garg founded Raw Mango in 2008. His distinctly handwoven saris, fluid to fall, soft to touch, brought a cultural renaissance in the minds of contemporary consumers as he reimagined their fabric and design. Colour became a sutradhar in the Raw Mango story for lost and found lovers of the sari. The brand’s inventive shade card like tota hara (parrot ...