ELLE Digital Cover Star: Tuning In With Kavya Trehan

On a busy Tuesday morning, the day starts like any other, with horns blaring, traffic crawling, and Mumbai doing what it does best—moving relentlessly. But the mood shifts as soon as I enter the studio, only to see Kavya Trehan's warm face. She greets me with a wide grin and a glint in her eye—giddy, grounded, and radiating the kind of energy that makes me forget I just spent 90 minutes in traffic. She's exactly what I didn’t know I needed: a bolt of creative oxygen in a city that rarely pauses to breathe. 

As the shoot progresses, Trehan moves like water—fluid, instinctive, fully present. With every outfit, she slips into a new rhythm, a new persona, never forced, always felt.  She’s a shape-shifter in the truest sense, approaching each frame like a scene from a play, where her body, mood, and presence align in quiet choreography. For Trehan, the set isn’t a spotlight, it’s a shared canvas. “Most people feel tired after a shoot, but I get immediate withdrawal symptoms. I want to do it all over again!” she says, words that are music to any stylist’s ears.

On Music, Synergy and Sibling Love

With her upcoming release ‘Hyperreal’ inching closer, the excitement is palpable, especially as Spotify countdowns tick and fans wait in sync. Her music is a blend of theatre, drama, art and everything in between. “I am a super pragmatic person. I wear a hat, and then I drop it immediately. So it's always music first and then everything comes afterwards,” she says. 

With tracks like ‘Seal It’ and ‘Cold’, her work pulses with feeling, shaped by personal vision and collaboration. She values the importance of a good team and does not shy away from giving them their due credit.

“It all comes down to the village that makes my dreams come true. My sister, her husband, my manager, the stylists, designers, makeup artists, they're all part of this journey.” She laughs, “They are at the beck and call of 1001 Zoom calls.”

There’s something sacred about how she speaks of her sister,Khyati Trehan—a bond that feels less collaborative, more cellular. “We’ve been creating together since we were babies. It started as a way to survive challenging times in our lives.” Her background in psychology slips into her process almost subconsciously. It’s in how she composes, listens, and creates with intent. “My responsibility as a musician is to balm emotions—to translate feelings into something people can hold, get lost in, and hopefully feel seen by.”

All Things Authentic: Theatre And Films

“I think I was meant to be a filmmaker” she says with the kind of certainty that doesn’t need proving, it comes from years of being steeped in performance. Trehan’s been on stage since she was eight, and theatre wasn’t just an outlet—it was her foundation. From emotionally textured performances in ’If Only’, ‘Jugaadistan’ and ‘Hush Hush’ to the global stir of ‘The Royals’, her work has steadily carved space on camera and in the hearts of those watching.

She has different rituals as she takes on a range of projects. She candidly mentions how she keeps a diary for every role she embodies: “I am detail-oriented about how I approach my characters. I write a diary for my character even when I'm auditioning. And nobody has a clue. I mean, I've just now revealed it,” she laughs. 

In a business that changes faster than the algorithm, Trehan knows that staying grounded isn’t about staying relevant—it’s about staying sane.“You shouldn’t let fame, celebrity culture, or all the glitz and glamour distract you from why you signed up for the job in the first place,” she says, matter-of-factly. She doesn’t just believe in honesty—she practices it, even when it’s uncomfortable. “Authenticity is an uphill battle,” she admits. “But unless you treat it as an active, intentional process, it keeps slipping further away.”

Fashion As Armour 

When asked to describe her style, Trehan says, “Androgynous, interpretive, and heirloom-oriented.” This description is most accurate.

It was hard to miss the fashion wave ‘The Royals’ created over the summer, with Trehan’s character Divyaranjini swathed in a dream wardrobe. But beyond the surface, there was intention. “I really wanted her fashion to be her armoury, because she’s an unseen, unheard voice,” she explains.

What lingered most to me however, wasn’t just the onscreen opulence, but the moments off it—like the press conference before the release, where I distinctly remember where she styled herself in a striking Rajesh Pratap Singh kurta. The inspiration? Her late father whom she wanted to pay homage to. “I knew I wanted to look like a princess and have the essence of my father in it too. But what would Jinnie’s  interpretation of a princess be? It had to be something outlandish.”

Fashion, for Trehan, isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s a language. A way to connect, to feel, to remember. “The other day I met my grandmother, and suddenly, today, I felt like wearing  juttis under my pants, because it reminds me of her.” she laughs. It’s all feeling-first, rooted in memory longing and love.

She wears her heart boldly and  unapologetically on her sleeve. “We’re all busy trying to look well-branded, shiny, and perfect,” she says. “But I want to be ugly, disappointing, and all sorts of weird adjectives—so people know that’s okay too.”

Between Nostalgia & The Future

Adorned in striking silver jewellery, Trehan flashes a grin, “I love jewellery. I love silver jewellery,” she says, casually revealing that she designed the pieces she’s wearing. “With the release of ‘Hyperreal’, I’m also releasing my jewellery line.” which she proudly wears on the cover. 

The collection, born from the idea of archaeological pressure, isn't just ornamental. It’s a tangible extension of her inner world. “I wanted something I could hold. Something that carries weight—both literal and emotional.” True to her multi-hyphenate nature, Trehan is already dreaming beyond. “Don’t be surprised if I launch a brand someday that blends jewellery with interiors,” she laughs.

What makes Trehan fascinating and a breath of fresh air isn’t just the range of her talents—it’s the way she shows up, fully, in every version of herself. Curious, candid, and constantly evolving, she doesn’t shy away from messiness or reinvention. She says something that makes me introspect long after our conversation ends. “If people ‘Marie Kondo’ their choices and ask, ‘What makes me feel interesting?’ and base decisions according to it and not on society, that’s when they hit brutal honesty.” she says, and you know she means it. That’s the real magic of Kavya Trehan—she’s not chasing perfection. She’s carving out a space where honesty is the aesthetic, feeling is the form, and being yourself is the point. 

ELLE India Editor: Ainee Nizami Ahmedi; Photographer: Rachel Pachuau; Jr. Fashion Stylist & Words by: Tejashree Raul; Asst. Art Director: Alekha Chugani; Makeup: Ambica Kukrety; Hair: Akansha Singh; Bookings Editor: Rishith Shetty; Assisted by: Ridhima Shetty (styling);  Sneh Lad (bookings); Artist Reputation Management: Aneesha Kotwani