I have a love for all things art & fashion. Having lived across Europe, India & the Middle East has widened my perspective & influenced my fashion sense. I have two distinct lines:  hand painted and another that is a formal line using velvets, silks and crystal broaches. At the moment I am focusing on widening my distribution, creating my website and participating in trade shows..

My target audience is women who are not scared of attracting attention towards themselves in a nice way.  I would like to believe that Monique bags tend to do that. I believe my bags are special because they are an elegant juxtaposition of art & bling; in terms that usually do not go together. I use rich Indian silks& have a team of qualified artists painting on them .These paintings are then blinged up with crystals.  I also have a line of formal hand bags color blocked with velvets & silk and embellished with elegant crystal broaches. I want the shelf of my handbags to be the candy store equivalent for grown ups with women finding it difficult to choose and walk away with one bag only. That vision inspires me to create.

While writing fashion & art columns for magazines, I noticed a supply gap for hand painted garments and accessories at the premium end of the market. Given my inherent interest in painting & the wider arts, having a fashion brand catering to this space seemed to be the most obvious thing to do. Thus the Monique was born. It started off as a clothing line in 2009 and I forayed into handbags last year. We currently make a only a few pieces in each design and color with painting, embellishing & making each Monique handbag takes over 8 hours.

I can’t remember a specific design nightmare. But while starting out, a stock of bags that had to be shipped to a buyer got damaged in shipping. It taught me the value of having reliable shipping partners. There is growing acceptance and recognition for my brand here in the UAE amongst high end boutiques as well as end customers. It is worth it when customers tell me they are confused and do not know which Monique bag to buy !!