Bombay is never still. It’s sea air and traffic jams, art deco balconies and concrete towers, chaos and beauty all tangled together. Out of this restless city comes designer and storyteller, Payal Khandwala. Her clothes were never about chasing trends. They’re built for women who actually live in them. Saris that drape like sculpture, separates that let you move without thinking twice, colours that make their presence known. Everything is rooted in India’s textile heritage, but filtered through an architect’s eye and a painter’s boldness. The pieces feel timeless without ever feeling stiff.
And now, the studio has taken that language to film. Created with Dot Films and set to a sweeping operatic score by composer Tajdar Junaid, Bombay is their newest short. It’s part ode to the city, part reimagining of a place we think we already know. Brutalist blocks, art deco facades, the endless coastline, the sprawl of concrete. It all becomes the stage for a woman moving through it with unhurried grace. Her clothes are her quiet armor: elegant, strong, made for real life.
At its core, Payal Khandwala is about this balance. Clothing that’s beautiful and practical, film that’s both poetry and document, a brand that feels more like a reminder. That how we choose to dress, and the worlds we move through, can be both soft and powerful at once.