OUT OF HER COMFORT ZONE

Designer Masaba Gupta talks about her foray into interior designing and more

Having created her own label when she was barely 19, designer Masaba Gupta is aiming for newer heights with each passing day. The creative entrepreneur seems to be stepping out of her comfort zone to expand her business, and thought Hyderabad as the ideal city for testing waters.

Masaba was in Hyderabad on Saturday to oversee the launch of her store and a café, the interiors of which she has designed.

The designer sheds light on why the café is named ‘ Good Cow’. “In most of my designs, the cow crops up. It’s now officially our line’s symbol. We wanted to go with the Holy Cow first, but we didn’t want to get into trouble,” she explains.

Other than the cow, which is an earthly and indigenous symbol, Masaba’s designs are ethnically tribal- themed. Ask her about this obsession, and she credits it to her pedigree. “Tribal designs are a part of my heritage. It boils down to the influences from my father, Viv Richards’ side. Since I started with palm designs, then the cow, etc., they’ve all been tribal. Every time I attempt something feminine, I can’t resist adding Amazon- inspired designs.

It has a lot of personality, and I’ve definitely inherited it from my father. Also, I’ve seen my mother ( Neena Gupta) cut up pieces of fabric and stitch them together to wear with a Kutchi sari. She was never a vanilla dresser. She was inspired by world fashion, and that’s what I aspire to create,” she explains.

Masaba recognises the dynamic and ever- evolving nature of Hyderabad, and is keen to capitalise on it. She emphasises, “Five years ago when I first came to Hyderabad, I saw that women weren’t even buying sleeveless

kurtas. But now, youngsters are very well travelled, and with a huge online presence, they want to dress differently. They want it to be out of the box and they want to make a statement!”

I know only anthe and saree in Telugu, but I really want to learn it because my husband’s ( Madhu Mantena) family is huge, and it would be great to bond with them in their mother tongue