After gracing countless covers, curating dream homes, and forging a brand synonymous with luxury, interior designer to the stars, India based interior designer, Gauri Khan is all set to disrupt the education space with The Designer’s Class.
Gauri Khan’s interior design course will enable designers of all levels to forge their own signature approach to interior design, drawing inspiration from Gauri Khan’s own, immensely successful, journey, as well as learn the fundamentals, best practices and industry insights from the veteran designer herself.
Gauri Khan joins an exclusive list of celebrity mentors and industry experts on an exciting new platform dedicated to tackling traditional design education head on. The Designer’s Class, launched earlier this year, gives burgeoning designers across the world, a unique, all-access opportunity to learn from the very best in their class.
This exciting and innovative platform is the first of its kind, bringing together a range of design disciplines and celebrity experts to create a community of new global talent. Celebrity tutors include icons Masaba Gupta, Rhea Kapoor, Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla and Tanya Ghavri to name a few.
We caught up with the multi talented business woman and wife of superstar Shahrukh Khan on her new venture. Here are excerpts from the interview.
Where do you get your inspirations from, for your work?
Gauri Khan: Travel is the best source of inspiration. When you travel you go to museums, galleries – even when you’re shopping – I think it’s just everywhere, walking in the park, nature, wherever – it’s how much you take in from that space and what you travel back to your country with. Whatever you’ve seen from the visuals from the different countries. So I think it’s all of that – it helps. Just being aware. I think awareness is something everyone should have – I get my inspiration from being aware.
You’ve designed both your home and the Red Chillies office – has your husband got involved in the design process for the interiors?
Yeah, he loves interiors. He loves to give ideas and loves to take part and be a part of creative decisions. He loves it and I enjoy it when he is participating also.
Your passion and dedication are visible in every design aesthetics. Until now, what was the project that brought you more joy and sense of accomplishment?
The Shane and Falguni store in Hyderabad. It was uniquely challenging because we had to do everything virtually and I had never seen the space before. I had to put down my thoughts, without actually seeing the space. It had to be executed without visiting the site.
So it was quiet a task. We finally put it all together and I eventually saw it post everything opening up and I was really happy with what I did.
So that was a great experience.
You are now launching your own interior design master class, what was the reason behind the class and what can people expect from the class?
Learning is a process that has always intrigued me, and helped me stay ahead in this field. So when I have shared my experiences with future designers, my collaboration with The Designers Class was an ideal and organic evolution of my love for learning and it gives me an opportunity to share my profession with experiences of people who love design as much as I do.
The interior design module is created keeping in mind the current industry scenario. Has all the necessary tools, tips to enable inspiring designers to understand the practical application of design theories. To create aesthetical and functional spaces.
What advice would you give to people thinking of going into the interior design profession?
There is no end to learning. We have been a part of this industry for so many years. It’s now made me aware of how being on your toes is. I still take every chance to learn more about my craft. I also think it’s important to learn about your style always – this gives me an edge along with giving a personal imprint on every design you create. So when it comes to design it’s very important to be resourceful and disciplined. That really helps.
The Designer’s Class launched globally on 5 May and further information can be found here
