ENTREPRENEUR, HOSTESS AND FAMILY WOMAN - SUREKHA JAIN

SHE WEARS MANY HATS, YET SHE GRACIOUSLY MADE TIME TO WELCOME HELLO! INTO HER SOUTH DELHI HOME, OFFERING AN INTIMATE VIEW OF HER STYLE, AESTHETICS AND INSPIRATIONS

Seated comfortably in the spacious living room of her South Delhi mansion, designer Surekha Jain looks every bit the creative maven. She is surrounded by beautiful floral arrangements of cymbidiums, lilies, spider orchids and her personal favourite, long sheafs of elephant grass that add height and depth. Her tables are decorated with blue and white pottery collected from India and abroad, offsetting the more traditional Lalique glassware and intricate silver pieces also on display. Contemporary artworks including one by M.F. Husain and another by Jehangir Sabavala line the walls, while a headless wooden statue adorned with a rich jamawar shawl adds an unexpected accent. Everything in her home is a testament to Surekha’s creative talent, befitting her reputation as a fashion designer of renown. Yet, she categorically asserts that seeking the limelight was never her goal.

“Honestly, I just loved putting together my own clothes,” she recalls the story of how she first trod this path. “Once at a party in Delhi, I met an Italian lady who loved what I was wearing. She was sourcing embroideries from India for her Italian clients. Despite my reservations at the time, she gave me my first order for embroidering 18 dresses for a very prominent couture house and I never looked back.”