My life changed in 2006 when I met Andre Leon Talley, editor-at-large of American Vogue. He proved to be a source of great support and told me that he could see that my collection stood for something. He also put me in touch Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief, American Vogue. I learnt an important lesson that if you are true to yourself, rather than follow the trends, you are invincible. Both, Wintour and Talley have been very supportive of my work.

Last year, I met the mind-body healing pioneer, Deepak Chopra, who changed the way I look at life. He has made me more balanced and non-judgmental. As women we are very harsh on and critical of ourselves. Deepak helped me to look at myself without being judgmental. This has changed my attitude towards life.

Giving birth to my children too was life-changing for me. My elder daughter, Ava who is now 12, was born when I was very young while my younger daughter, Tallulah, now 4, came when I was more mature. Their births at different phases of my life meant that my parenting styles were very different for both. But both the times I realised that as women we need to be complete ourselves before we can give anybody, especially our children, anything. If we are emotionally incomplete there’s nothing that we can offer our children to make them secure and balanced human beings.

My last visit to India, a first for my kids, was an emotional moment for me as my kids were visiting my father’s homeland. Though my parents didn’t have much money, they always stravelled with us when we were young. I believe that travelling is an important part of growing up. My kids connected with my Indian roots and experienced the way people live in a country that’s so different from where they were born. It certainly was an important turning point for us as a family.

(As told to Saimi Sattar)