Karishma Swali’s power-dressing move is restraint

Earlier this month, Karishma Swali, the creative director of Chanakya International and chairperson of the Chanakya School of Craft, was conferred the Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite by the French government for her contribution towards the preservation of Indian cultural heritage and her commitment to strengthening the ongoing creative dialogue between France and India. For almost three decades, her firm has supplied embroideries and handcrafted embellishments to global luxury brands such as Christian Dior, Fendi, Gucci, Maison Margiela, Prada, and Valentino. But for the ceremony hosted at the French embassy in Delhi, she didn’t wear any of the textiles she works so closely with; instead, she chose a classic black Dior Bar jacket with a navy floor-length skirt.

Her continuous exposure to fashion and various forms of textile has, unsurprisingly, come to inform her personal style, but in an unexpected way. In a sea of ostentatious outfits at any fashionable affair, Swali’s sensible blazers and ankle-grazing skirts in subdued neutral tones stand out in the best sense—like a uniform that suggests her focus is elsewhere. “For so many years, I’ve been working surrounded by textiles, their colours and textures, that I find, in order to pay service to this discipline, I need to keep how I dress quite simple,” she explains. “It allows me more headspace to give in to what I do.”

This monastic approach to dressing has resulted in a timeless wardrobe of solid blazers, bespoke suits (“I love something that’s well cut”), and no-nonsense separates, all of which allow her to put together looks instinctively. When at work, Swali—who, in addition to the Chanakya atelier and school, oversees Moonray (a luxury ready-to-wear brand), Jade (the Indian couture label she helms with her sister-in-law Monica Shah), and a steady stream of special projects—tends to gravitate toward black. Her off-duty palette of choice is its antithesis: pristine white.

“I have almost regimental phases in which I’m obsessed with one thing and I wear it every day. I’m wired to find comfort in a thing and then hang around there for a while,” she says. Currently, she’s been peppering her monotone wardrobe with denim, like the cropped pants she’s worn for our shoot. This is also evident in Moonray’s latest collection, The River, which uses upcycled denim as a canvas for crystal, pearl, and appliqué embroidery.

Swali is clear it’s the women in her life who have been a constant source of style inspiration. In her twenties she was, “quite the mad dresser”, who took inspiration from the fashion of the ’70s. “My mum had a lot of hippie-chic clothing, and I truly enjoyed colour, pattern, and mixing them both up. Over time, I’ve just become quieter. I don’t know if it’s an evolution, but it’s a change,” she says. She also recalls her grandmother’s extensive jewellery collection and has childhood memories of watching pearls being strung together by the family jeweller at home. “I collect heirloom pieces and love the idea of juxtaposing something very minimal with jewellery that represents Indian heritage and culture,” she says.

Along with her jewels, footwear is also where she allows herself to be more playful. “When I’m out, I really enjoy experimenting with colour, form, size, proportions. I love how Jil Sander and Loewe do their shoes—how they’re able to make them objects of fun.” Most days, though, you’d find her running around the atelier in Mumbai’s Byculla in a pair of nondescript sneakers. Today, she’s in sensible pumps. “My current go-to sneakers are from Bottega Veneta. I’m not a chappal person at all. They don’t allow you to run and I end up wanting to walk fast,” she explains.

Together with her teenage daughter, Avantika, who keeps her up to date on new designers and emerging trends and is “obsessed with thrifting, just like that whole generation”, Swali often hits the vintage markets in Paris and Ravenna. “It’s our thing to do when we travel. We have a collection of more than 20,000 vintage pieces at Chanakya that I feel free to borrow from time to time,” she laughs. “For me, shopping needs to be research. Otherwise, I get bored. I go into it seeking to learn. And that’s why the vintage markets.”

As for the pieces she’d like to pass onto Avantika when she comes of age, she says, “One of the first products we worked on when I started at Chanakya was the Baguette with Fendi. It was born to be a canvas for embroidery. Maria Grazia Chiuri really wanted to create something that felt precious but was easy to hold. Every season since, we’ve continued creating textures and surface techniques specifically for that bag. And so, over time, I’ve managed to build a collection of Baguettes that I cherish because they are a part of our history.” I ask if she has a rough idea of how many Baguettes there might be in this collection. “It will sound very bad if I say it,” she says sheepishly. The room erupts into laughter.