Simone Arora: EDIDA 2015 Fabrics winner

The flair for design stems from within. It doesn’t always need to be formally taught. Simone Arora of Simone…Naturally Inspired ventured into the world of interiors through exposure and self-education perfectly illustrates this adage.

“When I married Ajay, his family was in the textile apparel business. My mother, Zarine Khan, a well-known interior designer, suggested that we should venture into home furnishings. We considered the idea and explored its potential in India.  However, at that time the country was not a thriving market in this segment, so we decided to take the product to the international market,” says Simone.

As a start, the duo visited the Heimtextil Fair in Frankfurt—the largest home furnishings fair in the world. They also exhibited some of their initial samples however, did not receive a positive response. But this visit opened up a whole new world of furnishing concepts to them. This exposure was an education in itself. Eventually, they visited Belgium and bought four second hand looms and some artworks for fabric designs from the Lake Como district in Italy. “We returned to India and imported a design software, which allowed us to translate these artworks onto the fabrics. We then setup a small in house design studio and took up an office space. Thus began our journey,” shares Simone.

The real turn of events, however, took place when she decided to design her home “Amore” with the help of architect Hafeez Contractor. For the space, she personally sourced everything from all over Europe. Once it was ready, she received a lot of appreciation with people expressing their interest in a store where they could source various international products under one roof. This led to the concept of Simone; the store.  “The pieces I value the most from my collection are the bronze sculpture of a group of tall standing men placed on the white marble stairway just over the pool. Then there’s sculptor Arzan Khambatta’s iconic beaten steel 16 foot main door at my residence. Thirdly, my favourite are the Murano glass rocks that cascade down the wall in my house,” avers Simone.

While talking about the EDIDA winning fabric for D’Decor, Simone decided to select a neutral and muted base colour with an embossed silver traditional print on it. The texture is soft and has a subtle sheen. It’s a fusion of nature and luxury, which, according to the creative, embodies her brand. “From sourcing the original art work, translating the same through CAD onto the woven fabric and making colour trials for the final fabric to be woven, the entire process took approximately two weeks,” she shares.

Currently she is busy with “Project Simone”– concept mood boards in various natural and neutral colour themes that include floor and wall tiles, wall coverings to furnishings and carpet options that are offered in her boutique. Along with that, the talented creative also recently designed her new holiday beach home in Bodrum, Turkey.

Website: www.simone.com

Also read: Four bedrooms that will inspire you to mix and match