HELLO! India Exclusive: How Sanya V Jain is rebranding success on her own terms

Sanya V Jain could come across as just a clotheshorse with an exceptional aptitude for artful dressing, if you aren’t familiar with her protean personality. However, this diminutive trend-setter, armed with a flair for high fashion, has always been in touch with the dynamics of the luxury and lifestyle industry, and has channelled her knowledge towards building numerous lucrative businesses. That makes her a cerebral glamazon who can navigate effortlessly from society soirées and couture week front rows to boardrooms, distilleries, and art galas, applauded in equal measure at each for her sartorial sensibilities and sharp strategising skills.

“I started out designing bespoke handbags by launching SVJ in 2012. Today, we have an Indian alcohol brand with a genuinely global identity, constantly improvising on products and positioning, collaborations, design, and international presentation,” says Sanya. “What excites me most now is creating something from India that can sit confidently alongside the best brands anywhere in the world.” Despite the ghastly flu from which she’s recuperating, the excitement is evident in her voice as she speaks with HELLO! about Smoke Lab, a craft vodka brand she co-founded with her husband Varun Jain. Even in the serious business of alcohol — they distil this vodka from locally sourced Basmati rice — Sanya has succeeded in infusing it with oodles of fashion.

“Fashion never really left me. It influences how I look at packaging, art, branding, spaces, and storytelling. So, in many ways, I haven’t moved away from it; I’ve just applied that discerning eye to a much bigger world.”

THE KOLKATA CONNECT

You can’t be raised in the City of Joy and not be influenced by the creativity intrinsic to the cultural fabric of the metro. The quintessential stamp of Kolkata in Sanya becomes distinct as her intelligent disposition shows itself through her thoughts about the city where she grew up. “Even the simplest of things there are appealing. As I grew up amid so much art and aesthetics, it became a no-brainer for my parents that I’d eventually do something in the realm of fashion,” she shares, on how ideas around style became an extension of her very being, if not an obvious career choice.

“Your hometown stays with you in ways you don’t realise when you’re young. Kolkata influences you with its art, literature, architecture, old-world homes, craftsmanship, and a certain sense of romance. Essentially, its cultural soul.” Over time, this latent appreciation for beauty surfaced not just in Sanya’s style and understanding of the transformative nature of effective dressing but also in how she presents her work.

Eventually, completing her high school in Canada and the stints that followed at Parsons in New York and Central Saint Martins in London cemented the love she felt for the stream. “They contributed to my global perspective on design and taught me to look beyond fashion itself — at culture, art, architecture, people, and the way they live. The combination of Kolkata and my experiences living in several countries made me the person I am today.”

DESIGN & DEDICATION

The last time we met, sometime in 2013, Sanya had just founded a bespoke leather accessories brand. Soon after, celebrities like Sonam Kapoor, Lisa Haydon, Neha Dhupia, and Esha Gupta were seen flaunting her designs. Like an eager student, the young designer was invested in learning the ropes of the profitable trade. So, besides concentrating on quality craftsmanship, she had also ensured that women with a good eye coveted the arm candies SVJ marketed as affordable luxury products

“SVJ taught me far more than just design — product, quality, production, customer service, and the realities of turning a creative idea into a business. There is a huge difference between loving fashion and actually creating a product that somebody wants to buy and live with.” The product might have changed in 2026, but the style savant continues to thrive, thanks to the lessons she had learnt over a decade ago. After its successful launch in 2019, Smoke Lab made its US debut in 2020, selling out instantly. Early this year, the UK market beckoned, leaving the enterprising couple bright and buoyant about the response.

They’ve also expanded their portfolio of homegrown spirits by introducing Mohulo, India’s first craft gin, distilled from handpicked mahua flowers sourced from the heartlands of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and rooted in the indigenous traditions of the Baiga tribe.

THE WABI-SABI LIFE

Her background notwithstanding, a cursory glance at Sanya’s Instagram page leaves no room for doubt that Sanya has a distinctive sense of style. “My mother and grandma dressed a certain way. So did Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur and Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda. Beyond fleeting trends, their individuality truly inspired me. It’s also easy to be smitten by the irreverence of [global fashion icon and interior designer] Iris Apfel. The trick I recognised in her charisma was how to hone one’s personality.” This explains her relationship with fashion. Sanya is far more interested in an archival piece, an unexpected silhouette or something with a tinge of humour than the newest hype of the season. “My style is quite instinctive. It’s maximalist, to be precise, but I also exercise restraint!”

In love with statement attires, unusual proportions, and garments that make a statement, Sanya admits she can wear something rather dramatic at night but during the day, “I’m equally happy with my hair in a bun, no makeup on, and wearing something incredibly simple. That’s what age does to you — it gives you confidence.” This makes us wonder whether she’d change anything about a younger Sanya’s wardrobe choices. “Probably not,” she shrugs. “There were definitely questionable fashion moments, but that’s part of the fun, right? You have to experiment — and occasionally get it completely wrong — to develop your own language.” Her entrepreneurial ventures aside, Sanya’s world is centred around her two sons, Enzo and Robin, who she calls her best reset.

“Their world is completely removed from mine. They don’t care what meeting I’ve had or what I’m wearing. They bring me straight back to reality!” Contrary to the performative grain of our algorithm-run lives, Sanya is “less interested in looking perfect, too coordinated or too obviously glamorous,” preferring an individualistic look over something “directly lifted from a runway.”

A GLOBAL INDIAN

Incredibly visual as a person, this aesthete finds sparks of inspiration from travel, art, hotels, restaurants, people on the street, fashion shows, and even packaging in a supermarket in another country! “Travel has also made me much less rigid about fashion. Instead of dressing entirely according to one culture, aesthetic or what technically shouldn’t belong together, I might pair an Indian jewel with something modern, couture with something casual or a vintage piece with a new designer’s work.”

That’s what being a global Indian means to Sanya — you don’t choose between India and the world; you belong to both comfortably. This fluency in a universal language — fantasy, surrealism, extraordinary craftsmanship, as well as humour — makes her list Chanel, Hermès, and Schiaparelli as her favourites. “I’m quite enjoying Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel. I love Comme des Garçons for completely challenging the idea of what clothes are supposed to look like and Rick Owens for having a strong, uncompromising visual language.” As our conversation nears its end, the entrepreneur doesn’t forget to acknowledge India’s treasury of craft, culture, ingredients, design, and stories. It’s an opportunity for her generation, she believes, to present them in a contemporary way without turning them into clichés. 

“I can be in Paris wearing an Indian designer with vintage or international jewellery and, at the same time, be working on delivering an Indian indigenous vodka or a gin to a global audience. To me, the demarcations are blurred — my tastes are global, my references are universal, but there is a strong Indian confidence at the centre of it all.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: RAJU RAMAN
CREATIVE DIRECTION: AMBER TIKARI
STYLING: BIDIPTO DAS
INPUTS FROM: NEEVA JAIN
MAKEUP: PUJA TALUJA
HAIR: AMIT KUMAR