HELLO! Exclusive: Inside Mona Patel's world of conscious couture, tech and hearty galas

She may be a fresh enigma on the Met Gala red carpet. But don’t be fooled. Mona Patel has the confidence of a seasoned hauteur, a lady born to tease us out of expectations. And her idea of haute? “It’s a mindset,” we can hear her whisper, with a hint of a smile. She means it. This technopreneur has the guts to set and raise standards and values she believes in — she’d happily sell a couture gown from her wardrobe to see a young girl of disadvantaged birth go to school — which is the very basis of her Couture for a Cause initiative. Mona’s story reads like a classic potboiler of East West ingredients, the warmth, masala and aroma of the culturally rich state of Gujarat, meeting the limitless, stratospheric, tech innovations possible in America. 

Her ability to win over the powers that be, and to build teams and startups, combined with her ownership of her identity on high-profile red carpets — like her very first public outing at Vogue 100 and her Met Gala looks — makes this a turbo-charged story. After all, Mona has built a diverse business empire, founding eight companies across healthcare, technology, and real estate, collectively valued at over US$100 million. Little wonder that she has captured the eyes of the power elite in the cultural, fashion and tech circuits, from LA to Paris. Unlike the many A-lister couture butterflies we see splurging on their GQ, hers is a self-styled journey. HELLO! brings you a warm, personal chat with the shiny new global fashionista.

Photography by Stepan Filenko

Creative Direction and Styling by Mona Patel 

Realisation by Avantikka Kilachand Raju

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