Alya Mansa Project | Half Scale | 1 of 1 Signature Edition

"The makings of a Queen begin from birth."
This is exactly what I had in mind when it came to creating this work of art for Alya Manasa, daughter of Aila Sayed and Sanjeev Karthik.

Making this Queens day was an exciting process. But first, I had to sit with her parents and figure out what this piece would encapsulate, the most important question being, What defines Alya?

The way her parents described her told me only one thing. She was more than special. Her parents adored everything about her; her personality, her traits, her interests, everything.
For me, It was all about creating a one-off piece as special as Alya herself.

The first thing I had to dive into, was the design, the overall form factor and the silhouette. Its true beauty was inspired by the nature of organic forms, completed by its neckpiece, inspired by the bamboo panels that make up a Chinese Douli or the conical bamboo hat.

It's textile design was inspired by the intricacies of Royal Ornamental Patterns. Of course, this was a piece to befit a Queen. So I used the softest Handwoven Kanchipuram silk because nothing else would bring out the essence of royalty like silk.

Speaking of Royalty, nothing spells royalty like the color gold. I ran through a number of colour palettes to see what would suit it best, but there is something about muted gold that just defines luxury. So that's what I finalized.

Once I got my inspirations, it was time to put up a few sketches of what I had in mind for the dress. I presented the sketches to Aila Sayed and Sanjeev Karthik to help them get a better idea of what I had in mind before they finalized on a design they liked, and I sent it in for production.

The final output was beautiful. It came out better than I had imagined. The design, the colour and the overall finish of the dress just went so well together. It was Fabulous.

That was not all. A dress like that needs a fabulous bit of packaging to complete the experience. I made sure i did just that.
Our packaging and box had been painstakingly designed with attention to detail to complete the entire package.

In the end, what I wished to give Alya and her family is an experience. One that crafted to befit a Queen.