The IKKIVI Podcast: Exploring Fashion, Culture and Values · Nivi Murthy

S4E02: The Power of Intuition in Fashion and Business | Karishma Shah

·55 min·3 clips

Karishma Shah says she does not consider herself a fashion designer and sees her work as problem-solving.

"Don't follow the trend" sits at the center. The guest talks about fashion as something more useful than display: clothing should answer what people actually need. Her first sense of that comes through her mother, and that problem-solving instinct grows into a way of designing through observation, reflection, and change. Creativity matters, but not as a performance. Comfort has to sit beside style. She keeps coming back to clothes that give confidence, outlast a season, and stay clear of the hollow scramble for whatever is in trend. The pressure is real, though. Fashion keeps pushing brands toward summer, winter, and festive collections, which gets awkward when the brand is also promising longevity. Newness can start to feel like a lie. If customers are told to cherish something, then months later get told it is old, the business is fighting itself. So she works more by feel. She adds colors, styles, or designs when there is a real thought process behind them, not just a calendar to satisfy. Story becomes part of the product. Young designers, in her view, should show how things are made, share the feel of the work, and build a clear aesthetic without burying people in product. The customer relationship stays close, too. Online selling can flatten that one-on-one exchange, so sizing becomes another chance to sound human, with names like modest, liberal, and generous instead of ordinary labels. Sustainability stays quiet. She does not want to shout about being organic, zero waste, stylish, new, or different, because shouting can make the claim feel thinner. The host meets that softly. By the end, the advice for new brands is simple and hard: be yourself, even when it costs you ease. Peace counts here. The path is slower and more exposed, but it keeps the work tied to the person making it.

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