I believe your style should move with you and help you feel confident in everything you do.
Hi, I’m Manisha. Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve loved playing with clothes. My Amma (mother) would not indulge my shopping spree fantasies. So instead, I played with what I had as well as my family’s closets. I’d pair colors based on my mood for the day or see if I could wear something in a different way to resemble whatever trend was in that season. My parents kept their clothes from the 70s and early 80s and I would belt, twist, and tie these in whichever way to get the style I wanted.
As a teenager, I looked forward to family trips to India where I could design my own Indian clothes. Later, as a professional working in technology and data management consulting firms and start-ups, my love for style never waned. Fashion and style have always helped me realize that regardless of what I was doing, dressing the part just made me feel good about myself.
Dance has also always played a significant part through my life. I trained in Bharatanatyam in my younger years and was one of the few Malayalis on the Garba floor. I took a break for a few years post college, but it always found a way back to me. I still continue to dance with The Sa Dance Company even though I’m a half a world away.
I was often told that the way I perceive fashion and style was similar to the way that I dance. Like taking classical and folk styles of Indian dance and adding a contemporary flair, I love experimenting with new trends and pieces that change up a classic silhouette. It lets me highlight a piece by restyling it differently each time I wear it; a concept I refer to as “rewearability”. Also like dance, it is important that my fashion and style flowed with me as I moved through life.
Born and raised in Chicago, I lived in DC and New York, working as a data management consultant and a later as a product manager before relocating to Hong Kong in November of 2017 with my husband. Now, I’m a mother, entrepreneur, wife, dancer, and professional daydreamer. Living in these cities as well as work experiences from corporate, to start-up, to freelancing has heavily inspired and informed my style aesthetic. But, as long as I feel good about what I’m wearing, I can conquer my day. It’s half the battle.
Friends and family have always asked me to style them for their busy lives, whether they were readying for a holiday party or entrepreneurs heading into a big pitch. The confidence my styling touch brings them has inspired me to spin styling into a career. So I did.
I want to help womxn whose lives are forever evolving to evolve their style and by extension, their sense of self. I want to help you feel good about what you wear, embrace your personal style, and maximize the “rewearability” of pieces you already have.
I strongly believe in the journey vs. an end goal. So whether your end goal is to feel comfortable no matter what you wear or to enter a meeting feeling powerful, i.e., whether you want new ways to wear sweatpants every day or new looks for your Zoom sessions, I’d love to help you figure it out.
For any styling inquiries, whether personal or for a shoot, please contact me via my Work With Me page. For testimonials on my work, please check out my Styling Testimonials.
Thanks for coming by!