Pretty In Pastels

Shivangi Lahoty’s Inaaya brand is synonymous with pastel colors, each creation a fairytale in the making

- Shivangi Lahoty's

Childhood flights of fancy  I was eight when I knew I wanted to be a designer. I’d seen a picture of Ritu Kumar holding an award on the cover of an in-flight magazine my father had brought home. I was curious and wanted to do whatever she had done to win that trophy! When I learned that dressing up people got her the award, I wanted to dress up the world! That is when the seed of designing was sown. Honestly, during my journey from Assam to Kolkata to Mumbai to New York, if there was one thing that I knew, it was what I wanted and I had eyes only for it. Even though my family wanted me to take up Science after my 10th, I took up Humanities with Fashion Studies, Commercial Arts, Web Technology and Home Science as my subjects for 11th and 12th. That was quite a ride!

I sat for the entrance exams for NIFT and got a 71 AIR. I chose Mumbai from all the centers available to me, and that’s where I completed my B.Des (Fashion Design). I went on to New York for an AAS (Fashion Design) at FIT. I am so glad that my parents have always been very supportive of all my decisions.

The Inaaya story