what is your idea of perfect design happiness? TO ENVISION AN IDEA OR SOMETHING IN MY MIND AND THEN BE ABLE TO FIND THE RESOURCES TO EXECUTE IT. PERFECTION WOULD BE FINALLY SEEING THAT THE APPLICATION OF MY IDEA HAS EXCEEDED MY INITIAL VISION FROM ITS CONCEPTION.
what is your greatest fear in design? I HAVE NO FEAR IN DESIGN.
which historical design figure do you most identify with? MAHARAJA OF PATIALA. THE REGALITY OF HIS AURA, AND IN ESSENCE, ALL THE ROYALS FROM INDIA, IS AWE INSPIRING.
which living designer do you most admire? OSCAR DE LA RENTA BECAUSE OF HIS TIMELESS STYLES AND SUCCESSFUL LONGEVITY.
what profession other than design would you like to attempt? SOMETHING IN THE CREATIVE FIELD SUCH AS ADVERTISING OR CALLIGRAPHY.
what is your greatest design extravagance? MY PROCLIVITY TO TRAVEL AROUND THE GLOBE FOR INSPIRATION.
when and where were you happiest with your design? IT’S HARD TO PICK ONE MOMENT. AS LONG AS I AM DOING WHAT I LOVE MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT, I WILL ALWAYS BE HAPPY.
what do you consider your greatest achievement in design? MY TWO STORES IN NEW YORK. ANKASA MADISON AND ANKASA SOHO.
if you died and came back as another designer or design object, who or what do you think it would be? A TOOL USED TO EXPRESS SOMEONE’S CREATIVITY - AN EASEL, OR BRUSH OR PENCIL.
what specific design related talent are you lacking that you would you most like to have? A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE FORM OF DESIGN WOULD HELP SHAPE MY OVERALL UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A DESIGNER.
what is your most treasured design related possession? MY MOST TREASURED POSSESSIONS AREN’T TANGIBLE OBJECTS BUT RATHER TRAITS THAT I HOLD DEAR SUCH AS MY KEEN EYE AND MY ABILITY TO VISUALIZE THINGS.
what do you regard as the lowest depths of misery in design? KNOCK-OFFS.
what curse word do you most frequently use? BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! (I KNOW HOW TO USE THE F--- WORD).
what is your favorite design related word? ANKASA IT! (USED AS A VERB).
what is your least favorite design related word? PRICING!
what turns you on in design? ALL THE MYSTERY THAT IS INVOLVED IN CREATING AND THE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES THAT LAY AHEAD.
what turns you off in design? NOTHING REALLY!
what is your motto in design? WHEN I’M WORKING WITH MY TEAM MY FAVORITE SAYING IS “KEEP IT RELEVANT".
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IMAGE CREDITS | via Ankasa and Sachin + Babi. Oscar de la Renta photo via Zaid Hamid.
ABOUT PROUST ON DESIGN | Answered by our design icons, these must-ask questions come from a 19th century parlor game made popular by Marcel Proust, the French novelist, essayist & critic. Proust believed the direct questions and honest responses that they elicited revealed the true nature of the individual. For this column, we have put a design related spin on the traditional questions. While this method has been used by many journalists throughout the years, we were primarily inspired by The Proust Questionnaire, which appears monthly on the back page of one of our all time favorite magazines, Vanity Fair (also Krista’s alma mater). Read all of the previous Proust on Design questionnaires here.