Fashion Uniforms: These creative forces know how to make a powerful statement

Babneet Paul Lakhesar

Occupation: CEO of Babbuthepainter, freelance artist, designer

Your go-to everyday outfit: For summer, oversized T-shirt with heels and for winter, oversized T-shirt, heels, and a jacket. Oh and I love fanny packs!

Why: Exploring, I love exploring street art with clothing.

Smita Lasrado

Occupation: Co-founder, Feat.Artists

Your go-to everyday outfit: Tube socks, a pair of Nike shoes, a men’s blazer, Helmut Lang tee and skirts or cycling shorts.

Comfort to you is: Never having to hold your breath and never feeling pain in your feet.

An heirloom you’ve been passed: These solid men’s gold rings passed down to me from my grandmother. They make me feel like I’m back in the ’80s: my favourite decade

Arpana Rayamajhi 

Occupation: Jewellery designer 

Your go-to everyday outfit: I never really have a “go-to” but I can always rely on my tartan kilts for almost any occasion. I have a growing collection and I am absolutely addicted. But always paired with jewellery, of course. 

One accessory you always reach for: I make my own jewellery and I wear a lot of them. But not wearing a necklace feels really odd to me.

Clothing as an armour or as a means of expression: Jewellery as armour. Clothes as expression.

Manav Angelo Kashyap 

Occupation: Social media strategist & brand communications head, Sabyasachi Calcutta
Your go-to everyday outfit: A colour printed floral kurta in thin khadi by Sabyasachi and Christian Louboutin Aurelien sneakers or Valentino Garavani camouflage RockRunner sneakers. 

Clothing as an armour or as a means of expression: Clothing as an armour because I choose which sides of my personality I wish to express and when. 

Raja Kumari 

Occupation: Rapper, musician, dancer, songwriter 

Your go-to everyday outfit: Streetwear mixed with some jhumkas. 

Why: I started to pick silhouettes that complement my body and because comfort is key.
Comfort to you is: A pair of sneakers, no heels. 

An heirloom you’ve been passed: Jewellery. It carries the history of our culture. I wear my grandmother’s ring. 

Clothing as an armour or as a means of expression: You use your clothes to express who you really are; it gives you strength. And in some ways, an armour to face the world. For me, it is both. 

Amrit 

Occupation: DJ & co-founder of One Stop Away 

Your go-to everyday outfit: Vintage tee, oversized blazer, and statement sunglasses. Everday scent: I like to mix depending on my mood, usually a combination of Malin & Goetz (Leather), Le Labo (Another), and Byredo (Gypsy Water). 

An accessory you always reach for: Sunglasses from RetroSuperFuture. 

Whose fashion uniform do you admire the most: Fran Fine from The Nanny. 

Gurpreet Kaur Ahluwalia 

Occupation: Marketing professional, currently new mum 

Your go-to everyday outfit: Layering, usually with a collared button-down shirt, wide leg trousers and a jacket or sweater. 

Why: I love crew necks and button-down shirts and often joke that my collar bones never see the sun! 

An accessory you always reach for: My glasses. 

Simran Lal

Occupation: Co-founder, Nicobar, co-founder, Paro and chief floating officer, Good EarthY

our go-to everyday outfit: It depends on my daily mood. If I am in a Mughal princess mood, I wear my lovely farshi or lehenga flowing kurtas, juttis, and amazing jewelry and often a sari. When I am in my bohemian gypsy mood, I wear my weekender pants from Nicobar, loose linen top and sneakers or silver Kohlapuri chappals, layers of beads, and lacquer bangles.

An heirloom you’ve been passed: My grandmother’s beautiful patan patola sari and a Mughal era navratan necklace.

Natasha Naegamvala

Occupation: Hairstylist and salon owner

Your go-to everyday outfit: I’ve always been a jeans and T-shirt girl.

Everyday scent: Issey Miyake.

Clothing as an armour or as a means of expression: Definitely as a means of expression! For somebody who loves a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, I still mix and match loads of clothes and put them together to create my own sense of style

Maneka Thadani 

Occupation: Marketing & communications manager, Gucci, India

Your go-to everyday outfit:The classic white shirt in a multitude of styles, cuts, and drapes. It is the ideal multitasker, the ultimate in simplicity and versatility. I pair it with everything—from a pair of culottes or jeans to trousers, or with a skirt. I can never have enough.

Trusted pair of shoes: I am a kitten heels person—it’s always about comfort coupled with style

Swati Argade

Occupation: Owner/designer, Bhoomki, a Brooklyn-based ethical fashion brand.

What will you never be caught dead in: Fast fashion. I refuse to wear clothing made by brands with little regard for environmental waste or abusive labour practices.

An heirloom you’ve been passed: An exquisite gold rope necklace I inherited from my husband’s Jewish paternal great-grandmother, Hilda. She escaped Nazi Germany during World War II and managed to carry this necklace with her.

Shahili Gomes-McCoy

Occupation: Co-founder, The Design Collective and director, Gandhara Interiors 

Your go-to everyday outfit: My go-to outfit for winters is an oversized long dress with sneakers, glitter socks, and a scarf as big as a blanket. 

Most treasured item in your closet: My Sabyasachi wedding sari. Partly for sentimental reasons and partly because it’s just amazing. 

An heirloom you’ve been passed: My mother’s Mikimoto pearls 

Dhruvi Acharya 

Occupation: Visual artist 

Your go-to everyday outfit: My painting pants/ jeans/ shorts depending on the weather, and a T-shirt/ shirt. 

Why: I need to be mobile and comfortable and because I tend to wipe my hands on my pants while painting. 

What will you never be caught dead in: Loud, colourful prints from top to bottom. 

Whose fashion uniform do you admire the most: Steve Jobs. I see the wisdom in not having to distract oneself with thoughts of what to wear when the mind is already at work. 

Radhika Khandelwal 

Occupation: Chef-owner, Ivy & Bean and Fig & Maple 

Your go-to everyday outfit: I love wearing shirt dresses during the day and pleated skirts for evenings. But my forever uniform is my chef ’s coat and a comfortable pair of jeans. Favourite designer/ label: Bhaavya Bhatnagar, Bodice and Lovebirds. 

Whose fashion uniform do you admire the most: Chef Dominique Crenn. 

Karishma Manga Bedi 

Occupation: Entrepreneur 

Your go-to everyday outfit: Denim and white across different kinds of clothes, lots of flats for the day with a fetish for Indian Kolhapuris and juttis; for evenings, it’s high heels, minimal accessories and clean make-up. 

Comfort to you is: A state of mind. If it’s easy in your head, it will be so in your body language as well. 

Trusted pair of shoes: I’m a shoe fiend! Sergio Rossi, Jimmy Choo, Gianvito Rossi, Toms, French Sole, Nike, and my Kolhapuri slippers and juttis.

Anita Kaushal 

Occupation: Creative director, Mauli Rituals 

Your go-to everyday outfit: The best in natural, unstructured fabrics like silks, cashmere, cottons. I like timeless block colours so I can dress down with trainers for work or add heels and jewellery for evening meetings. 

Whose fashion uniform do you admire the most: Gwenth Paltrow’s—classic with a slight edge