Delhiites are familiar with designer Payal Jain’s annual winter shows, which usually centre around a New Age theme, and showcase a mix of stylish prêt and easy couture. There is recurring use of gold, ivory and red in her palette, offset by blacks. Behind this apparent seamlessness of couture and prêt is Jain’s 18-year-old work as a corporate designer, especially for the hotel industry, a parallel aspect of her enterprise. A job where each sari or scarf must look ironed 24×7 and each pin-tuck on a shirt must withstand a tough schedule. Jain has been making uniforms for luxury hotels—from sharp-suited restaurant heads to doormen who she says feel energized by her quirky use of local colour and detail. She tells us how disparate in experience and expectations fashion and corporate design are, yet how they influence each other.
