Laila Malpani - The Challenge With Design Is Normally Based On The Project Clients And How We Need To Ensure Their Brief Is Nailed (Interior Designer)

As a design practice my policy is not to be ‘Brand Led’. I work hard not to have a signature look and like to feel I address each client’s wishes and requirements on an individual basis. I believe this keeps me fresh and in touch with all sorts of skill sets and styles. 

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

 I have always had a love for all things beautiful be it Art or Design in any form. I graduated from the Inchabld School of Design by the time I was 21 and landed a job with the legendary Sunita Pitambar right out of college, first starting out as an intern and eventually heading up her design team for several years. It was one of the most enriching experiences of my career and I got to learn so much from one of the most talented people India has seen. 

From buying art at Sotheby’s auctions to tapestries in Paris, I was involved in designing homes for some of the well heeled in the world from Michael & Shakira Caine in London to industrialists in Dubai, Kathmandu, Delhi & Mumbai. Ten years later My penchant for design led to a brush with fashion styling for the Film and Advertising industries and then to launching and successfully running a fashion label for several years. 

After that gap life saw me in New York and I had a brief stint with a Top Interior Management firm styling spaces. I  moved back to India a few years ago with my family and my reignited passion for interiors has brought me back to this space full time with a boutique interior Design Firm of my own that hones in my varied experiences and exposures to designs of all form.

 

2. What has been the most challenging part of your profession?

So challenge with design is normally based on the project clients and how we need to ensure their brief is nailed to the T. I wouldn’t say challenging but one of the most interesting projects I worked on years ago was for an industrialist in Delhi. 

He was so married to the project himself that he slept on a charpoy on the site most of the year that we worked on it and called me everyday at 6am to discuss his ideas. On a whim weekly we would take off to Paris or London or Italy to pick up pieces or order furniture for his project. 

I actually went to the Baccarrat Factory to order 18 identical chandeliers for this home. It was a crazy, surreal experience because of its challenges and how highly demanding the client was but also oddly and immensely  satisfying because of his perfectionism we didn’t give up till every detail was just perfect. 

Let’s say I aged a little during the process but I honed my skill set and it was one of the most memorable experiences to be thrown into chaos and Frenzy of design in different parts of the world. So these challenges also help you evolve as a designer. 

 

3. How would you describe your style ?

 

As a design practice my policy is not to be ‘Brand Led’. I work hard not to have a signature look and like to feel I address each client’s wishes and requirements on an individual basis. I believe this keeps me fresh and in touch with all sorts of skill sets and styles. 

I can be doing restoration work in the morning, shabby chic at lunchtime and a contemporary penthouse in the afternoon! The best design I believe is when your marry more than one style to make it eclectic. 

I love working with clients who have collected art they bought over the years and small objects during travel: it gives more than a designer look and tells you a story about the person and their lives. I love that part of individualism. If I had to say I would say my style is eclectic.

 

4. How important is it to be in sync with changing trends?

 

I have one word for you Sustainable. Sustainability is the need of the hour. The new sexy eco therefore includes products like Another Brand's Mosaico, a flooring system of solid wood tiles made from 100 per cent recycled wood repurposed from the furniture manufacturing industry, to the London-based architects APT collaborating with Mallorcan tile maker Huguet, to produce a terrazzo-inspired material that uses construction and demolition waste. 

Alternatively, Dust London's re-use of tea waste to make stunning origami-inspired household objects or Chip[s] Board, a fully recyclable, biodegradable material made from potato waste, an innovation supported by none other than McCains. Expect to see a lot more collaborations like this. 

While right here in India sustainability has always been part of the fabric of our society which continues on. Repurposed furniture, wood and artefacts are not only stunning when mixed with modern materials but are also saving our planet. So to answer your question move with the times but be true to yourself and your identity as a designer. 

 

5. Can you share some advice for aspiring designers?

I think it is to constantly educate oneself about everything design. Read books, travel if you can, visit even local art galleries and learn more about what kind of designer you would like to be. And then study and work bloody hard.

 

6. Who has been your role model and why ?

Personally my role models are my parents who both are self made and have come from simple backgrounds to create an impact in their respective professions as well as be some of the most generous and helpful people I know. My dad has sacrificed a lot for our family to be in a position of privilege and when you live in a country like India this is something that you are even more aware of. 

 

Professionally I was very influenced by my first and long term boss Sunita Pitamber whose Interior Design studio I ran for several years. She was the ultimate style maven be it in her interior design or dressing or the way she entertained. That kind of class is hard to come by today. She defined style! 

 

 

7. What is your mantra for success.

I think it’s Hard work Hard Work & Hard Work. Luck plays a role in being at the right place at the right time and managing to bag a fun or important project. But to be truly successful one has to work like crazy whether on the project or even evolving each year as a designer. 

Improving ones skill set and then of course there is setting an example by being the first one in and the last one out. I tell all my team if I push you it’s only because I know you will be better for it in the end.

 

Laila Malpani

( Interior Designer)

Instagram id : @lailabijlani

Interviewed by Adit Koul