Payal Singhal: India's Wunderkind Fashionista
Currently working out of New York City, 27-year-old
Mumbaiite Payal Singhal’s newest clothing collection features
bright colors, western inspiration, and Indian touches. Payal is known
for her Indo-western fusion looks, occasionwear, and bridal outfits,
with shops in Mumbai and Delhi. Already working with several small
boutiques in New York, Payal has set her sights on major retailers
in the United States as she pursues her destiny—fashion.
While some South Asian families might have balked
at the thought of their daughter pursuing a fashion career, Payal’s
family didn’t mind.
In fact, Payal’s father, Dinesh Singhal, is
directly involved in the fashion industry, owning the “London
Fashions” label. Payal’s parents were thrilled when she
decided to go into the field. “They always wanted me to do fashion.
They were into garment manufacturing…mass production for export.
But I never thought that would be my career. I preferred art.”
Although she may not have expected it, due to her other artistic inclinations,
fashion was Payal’s destiny.
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Payal Singhal |
| Payal’s first foray
into fashion came at a young age. A company in Mumbai decided to promote
a new store by creating a design contest. As no experience was necessary
to enter the contest, Payal submitted a few of her sketches for the
preliminary rounds of the competition, competing with designers of
all ages. The judges immediately recognized the artistic flair and
creativity of her fresh, western take on traditional Indian clothes.
Despite her lack of experience, Payal prevailed and was named the
“Shoppers Stop Designer of the Year.” She was only 15.
After winning this national contest, Payal realized
that she should consider fashion school. After high school, she began
pursuing a degree in design at Shreemati Nathibhai Damodar Thackersey
(SNDT) University in Mumbai, India’s best fashion school. During
college, Payal began incorporating western fashion trends into her
Indian designs. She took the look, colors, and silhouette of each
season and applied those principals to traditional Indian clothes.
Following graduation, Payal found a job at MTV-India,
where she worked as a stylist for the veejays. While there, Payal,
then 21, realized that she really wanted to start designing her own
clothes. When asked about her “first big break,” Payal
states that it was “designing for myself.” Her foray into
the fashion world was, in her words, “relatively easy.”
Because of her parents’ involvement in the fashion industry,
Payal already understood a lot about how the industry works. The difference
between Payal’s creations and her parents is that “[her
parents] were more into mass produced clothes, while [Payal] was interested
in designer, one-of-a-kind outfits.” However, her parents’
connections provided Payal with the infrastructure she needed to produce
her own line. Her biggest challenge, though, was “changing the
mindset of the workers.” However, she asserts that “it
wasn’t that easy, but it wasn’t that hard either.”
A year and a half ago, Payal decided to launch a
career in the United States, bringing her label to New York. The transition
was an easy decision, given American designers’ immense interest
in Indian fashions. Ironically, says Payal, “Fashion in India
is western inspired and American fashion, right now, is Indian inspired.”
The demands of these two industries helped Payal realize that fusion
was the best way to express herself. While she doesn’t particularly
want to categorize her target audience, her clothes are aimed at people
interested in “young, eclectic, Asian, South Asian, American
and ethnic” looks. More recently, in response to her popularity
in America, Payal has begun working on “mainstream clothes—primarily
tunics and jackets.” Whether Indian, western or fusion in design,
Payal’s clothes are all still made in India, using materials
from all over the world.
Since her entrance into India’s fashion industry
at age 15, Payal has developed a solid business sense and her own
philosophy on fashion. When designing clothes, Payal needs to be convinced
that she could wear the clothes herself. She draws inspiration from
everything from different fabrics, prints, interior design and architecture.
As an artist, anything that catches her eye might someday be incorporated
into her designs. However, she is emphatic about the “litmus
test” for her designs. “Wearable, practical, and economical”
is her mantra and those are the buffers she uses before putting anything
she creates on the market. As she continues to remain faithful to
her philosophy, Payal plans to expand her presence in America. She
has recently shown her collection in Los Angeles and has plans for
Boston and Washington, D.C. With plans to work with major fashion
retailers in the United States, Payal is focusing on making it in
America.
When choosing her own clothes, Payal gravitates towards
American designers, though she prefers Indian shirts and kurtis (blouses).
She loves designing her own comfort-oriented formalwear. Bright and
colorful outfits, she believes, can “keep me going all night.”
Of recent fashion trends, Payal is most wary of “highwaisted
pants, boxy jackets, men’s clothing on women, and pointy shoes.”
She thinks that “the 1980s coming back is the worst—and
unflattering.”
For any South Asians considering fashion, Payal
has these words: “Don’t go through too many other stores
or magazines. Go for your own vision. Get internally trained, bring
out original ideas, and follow your heart. Don’t go by what’s
selling—going by instincts worked for me and got great response.
Keep this as your mantra—‘should be wearable, should be
affordable.’ It’s fashion, not art.”
View Payal Singhal’s fashions at www.payalsinghal.com.
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