Design has a starring role

Gauri Khan discovered her passion for interior design when she began decorating the sea-facing heritage bungalow, Mannat, that she lives in with her superstar husband Shah Rukh Khan and their three kids. As appreciation from friends and family poured in, Gauri began to think about taking up interior decorating as a career. Gauri shares, “I have always loved good designs and appreciated good work by others. But when it came to designing my own homes in India and Dubai, I found that I had a very innate style of my own and a distinctly strong vision of what I wanted these homes to embody. After I designed my own personal spaces, I realised I wanted to channelise my creativity into something more long-term and that’s how my professional ventures began.”

The star wife has in the time since, launched her interiors store The Design Cell, and most recently, a signature line for international design and architecture firm The First Ferry. Gauri also has plans to extend her line of furniture and chandeliers by giving consultations on yacht and landscape interiors.
About her new collaboration, she says, “Every home, office, club, yacht, landscape or piece of furniture I may design will be different from the other. What will be consistent however is my own personal sense of style through it all.”

Gauri might also be designing jewellery, bags and shoes under her signature line a year from now. She claims she has been greatly influenced by designer Alexander McQueen and his works: “I like the theatrical imagery of his work. I find it very interesting that he could extend his designs to shoes, scarves, handbags and other accessories instead of being relegated to just clothes. I also like the work of Tom Dixon and love his modern style of accessories; in fact, his work can also be found in my store The Design Cell. I have a dream for this signature line and design is my passion. I want to reiterate the fact that at the core of it all, I am a designer, a creator and as a creative person I will choose to be limitless in the extension models of my various ideas on design. I believe a person who designs for the sheer passion of creativity can do so across media — it is like any other form of art.”
For her store in Mumbai, The Design Cell, Gauri hand picks every single item right from the artists to the designs of various furniture pieces. Her favourite place to uncover a treasure trove of trinkets is Paris and she confesses that there is no particular style statement that she follows while making her purchases. The store showcases a lot of collectibles and apart from niche designers it also provides a platform to young and upcoming designers. The Delhi-bred fashionista is very fond of good artists and she constantly looks forward to showcase their works at her store. “Styles are so fluid, forever changing, that as a designer, you have to keep learning and keep growing your tastes, along with catering to the needs of your client.”

Ask how she balances being a mother, a superstar’s wife and an entrepreneur so effortlessly, and Gauri says, “There are a lot of women who do this as effortlessly as I do — all it requires is good planning and a good support team.”