Getting candid with Sarah Sham

The fourth-generation businesswoman and interior designer lets us in on her design philosophy, her defining moments, and her accidental foray into interior design

- VAISHNAVI NAYEL TALAWADEKAR

PRINCIPAL DESIGNER ESSAJEES ATELIER

Born into a family that specialises in collectibles and objets d'art, Sarah Sham had always been surrounded by beautiful things. So when she graduated with an art history degree from Duke, and spent a year away at Oxford studying 19th-century French art, many might have anticipated that she would pursue a career in design. "Hardly," she guffaws. "I always thought of doing something in economics, finance or psychology. Interior design was the furthest thing from my mind." But life had other plans for Sarah. Today, she is the founder and principal designer of Essajees Atelier, a Mumbai-based interior design firm that has completed more than 50 projects across the country.

What was the genesis of your practice? How did it all start?