About The Founder

After a few years in the fashion field in India, Payal obtains her MBA in International Luxury Brand Management from the prestigious Essec Business School in Paris in 2004. Following internships with Jean Paul Gaultier and Valentino, she has the privilege of being part of the small team that revived Givenchy under Riccardo Tisci’s Artistic Direction from 2005 to 2010.
In 2007, Payal gets chosen to represent Givenchy in the first ever edition of the “EllesVMH” initiative, a collective presenting diversity of women within the LVMH Group.
From 2010 to 2017, she moves on to hold key Board Member positions at iconic French children’s wear brand Bonpoint and then at Chanel, brands where she was a privileged member of various think tanks in at both Strategic and Operational levels.

A temporary family relocation then brought her Dubai in 2019, where Sarayū was born, out of her passion for the art and excellence that luxury stands for.
A large part of Payal’s career was dedicated to her first love - Product, the foundation of any luxury brand. It took her to magical places where she could make designers’ ideas come alive. From Normandy to Antananarivo, Budapest to Bombay and Milan to Marrakesh, she travelled the world to look for that perfect blend of craftsmanship and excellence in quality workmanship. Along the way, she saw first hand the fragility of the system, the impact on its workers, the environmental impact. But she also saw their mastery of both ancient and modern techniques. Of the arts and artisans that each country has honed over centuries, and how they are responding to modern demand. It is this sense of true and long lasting luxury that remains very much at the core of her work.

Visits to nothing less than 500 factories world-wide spanning two decades, brought a very deep understanding of this vast and complex eco system which is fashion and remain Payal’s guiding light to bring about innovative solutions.
A lover of languages, literature, contemporary dances and the textile & culinary arts, Payal bridges many cultural worlds. She fluently speaks English, French, Italian, Gujarati and Hindi. On her list-to-learn are German, Spanish and Japanese. Having lived and worked in very different cultural milieux, Payal strives to bridge these worlds. Worlds that speak different languages. Cultures that are passed down generations. It is the respect of all these beautiful cultures, different ways of seeing and being that she has appropriated along the way. Differences that she believes we all must mutually embrace, adapt and adopt in order to thrive together with empathy in our personal and professional worlds.