A creative director, stylist and a crazy cat lady, Ayesha Amin Nigam,
is an ambitious, down to earth and playful soul. From creating show-stopping looks for photoshoots to styling celebrities for red carpet events, she sure knows how to bring magic to every project.
We were beyond pleased to have Ayesha chat with us on a lovely afternoon. Seen on Ayesha are our Amalia Dress and the Nectar-Plum Set from our latest resort collection Illume 23.
Tell us something about you that not a lot of people know.
I don't think there is anything like that, I'm quite an open book. Maybe random stuff like I am a sloucher, so I have to always be told to sit properly, otherwise, I am always slouching.
What’s your approach when you first start styling someone? Do you ask questions, go through their closets?
When I'm meeting someone for the first time and I'm supposed to style them, it's always good to know if they are open to experimenting or if they are in more of a safe zone and then understand how much I can push them to experiment. There's always a fine line, so to me it's almost like therapy.
Even when when you're working with a brand, it's always something that is a long conversation and it's a long process. So it's nice to be able to spend an initial amount of time with them to first understand fully what they want. And it's also always very important to get visual reference from them as well as a reference point.
Who are some of your go-to designers for styling right now?
Especially after the pandemic, I am really enjoying the amount of homegrown brands that have come up. And it's so much fun to see things from their perspective. As and when I see look-books and newer brands send me their visuals, it's so fun to see what they're coming up with.
I'm always very surprised because this kind of situation didn't really exist earlier. You had your top designers and that's all you could go to, but there are so many amazing brands and I love, love, love working with new brands.
" It's always good to know if someone is open to experimenting or are they in more of a safe zone and then understand how much I can push them to experiment. There's always a fine line, so to me it's almost like therapy. "
What’s the most fun part of your job?
The most fun part of my job is what I always say that you're never bored. I'm never bored of work ever because every day I'm doing something new or I'm working on five different projects, which are all so different from each other. So there's no monotony ever, like you never wake up in the morning and say shit I have to do the same thing again, even if I would have to wake up at 6 am and shoot it's not going to be the same from the day before or the next day.
Most challenging?
The most challenging part of the job is of course balancing client expectations. They are your clients but you have to also balance what they want to achieve in a day which is sometimes too much and just be able to you know in a polite and logical manner make them understand. Also the way you're expected to come up with briefs and ideas like a factory, where people need to kind of understand that you need to give a brief and give it some time, let it rest. Let me think about it and then I'll come back to you. Otherwise the notion these days, of churning out content like anything and everyone wants content all the time. They want ideas like this, which is sometimes not possible.
Favourite look you’ve styled till date?
Most favourite look that I've styled till date will have to be with Kusha. We did some amazing looks with her this time in Cannes and at IIFA and I feel she has really started experimenting with things which I really enjoy. Otherwise I really love her in a really nice power suit which I did recently for the HT Style Awards. We put her in a very cool black pant suit which kind of represented her personality in every way. And yeah, I find Cannes this year was a lot of fun with her.
" I'm never bored of work ever because every day I'm doing something new or I'm working on five different projects, which are all so different from each other. "
How would you describe your aesthetic in three words?
Clean, with a pop of drama!
What are the 3 most essential elements in a thoughtfully curated look in your opinion?
If it is for someone who's going out for an event it definitely needs to be fabric that doesn't crease, that I have learned in the long run because they're walking, they're sitting, whether it's an interview or even when they're going in the from the car to the red carpet, I know that's very specific but I've learned this it cannot be fabrics that creases because I'm not with them all the time. I can't be steaming or like my team can't be steaming them all the time. So definitely needs to be fabric that doesn't crease.
They have to be comfortable in it. And it should still be making a statement, in their comfort zone, it doesn't have to be completely OTT. But still, if you're styling someone for an event, people should turn around and look at them.
I cannot deal with low waist jeans. I don't know why, I'm so sorry. I mean, I think it looks good on some people but I don't know, I just can't figure it out.
And I love the Gen Z vibe, I think millennials trying to dress as Gen Z is also a vibe. Gen Z vibe is there and millennials also have their vice but when there is a confluence also it's very cute. I love when the millennials are also trying out the Gen Z trend, it's very cool.
Tell us three things that are in your shopping cart right now.
I've been obsessing over these Mach and Mach heels, which are way out of my budget. And they are these beautiful black sling-backs with a stunning pink bow and I was just sending it to my friends last night and they're like you're crazy, please stop shopping. That's one, and something from like Celine, like a Celine belt or Loewe belt is what was in my cart, it took me some time to come up to the fact that I might want to buy it and by the time I was going to buy it, it went out of stock. So maybe there was a sign that I was not meant to buy it.
" They have to be comfortable in it. And it should still be making a statement, in their comfort zone, it doesn't have to be completely OTT. But still, if you're styling someone for an event, people should turn around and look at them. "
What’s your wardrobe MVP?
So my most essential for the past three, four years has been mom jeans like high waisted mom jeans. And that's all I wear, like crop tops from H&M or Zara is what what I'm wearing on a shoot mostly. I feel like it shapes you very nicely and yeah, I love how it looks.
Trademark accessory?
I have not stopped wearing eyeliner since for ever and now I feel like I'm out-dated but I tried not doing it and I feel like it's not gonna happen. And a nose-pin which I've been wearing since I was 16.
What would you never wear?
Low waist jeans.
I just like to chill at home honestly, like sometimes just take your mind off things and just do mindless activities, whether it's just chilling with my cats or being at home with my husband or even having friends over and just doing mindless rubbish games, that really helps me unwind and I try and do that every weekend. I try and not take work on the weekend, I know its not always possible but I try.
Who is your dream icon to style?
Deepika Padukone
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I love Florence. Either Florence, Bali or London.
What would be the title of your biography?
Confessions of a Crazy Cat Lady
"I just like to chill at home honestly, like sometimes just take your mind off things and just do mindless activities, that really helps me unwind and I try and do that every weekend. "
What are your plans with AyeWorks moving forward?
I have a lovely team of girls who are absolutely relentlessly hardworking. They understand how everything is supposed to be done and on time and they are very hardworking and I am very glad to have a team like that because I know for a fact that it's very difficult, especially in this generation of younger people to get people who are dedicated to someone else's work and they also understand that they get to learn a lot.
We didn't have this kind of a platform when we were growing up and I think the kind of work that we end up doing, as I said, it's different every day what we're doing. Maybe we're doing a magazine cover one day, the next day we're styling a celebrity, the next day we are doing a runway show.
So I'm glad to be able to do so many things. And I also have a team that's able to absorb a lot from that. For now, I'm happy to just keep expanding maybe get more to come and assist us and just expand the work. Eventually, I'd like to expand into other fields like or maybe you know open a studio for more creatives to happen. We're thinking about it.
We read about the wedding you planned for your sister-in-law and how beautiful it turned out, would you like to share some of your favourite moments of the wedding?
The fact that I got to do whatever I wanted to do and she just let me do whatever. We also got all the clothes customised. Everything was custom made. And of course the confluence of cultures because there was a Christian wedding and a Hindu wedding and there was a lovely confluence of both the religions and the culture and it was just a big and fun kind of a party and I was happy to be able to creatively direct the decor and outfits and everything and all the functions and the activities. So yeah, it was a lot of fun.
" Eventually, I'd like to expand into other fields like or maybe open a studio for more creatives to happen. "
Lastly 'this' or 'that'?
Oh God, those are all! I'm a Gemini. I like everything. Every polar opposite things I like.
- Early Riser or Night Owl :
Both! I'm out at night but I have to get up at 5am, but when I have to get up at 5am I am not a late to bed person. So when there's a shoot at get up at 6am, I am up. But when I don't have to get up early for I shoot then I like a late night.
- Beer or Wine :
I love wine but recently like, I used to hate beer but recently about two years ago, I started really enjoying beer.
- Less or More :
So, I started off in an OTT magazine called Harper's Bazaar Bride where I learned more and more and more, but now I am learning how to edit. And I learned with Mohit Rai, he was my mentor and at that point, it was all OTT, OTT, OTT but now when the whole world is doing OTT, I prefer cleaner things.
- Heels or Sneakers :
See now, I am a huge sneaker-head but look at the Mach and Mach I am lusting after so both I'd say.