It was at the London School of Economics in 2004 that these two Dilliwalas, Sahil and Shivani, met for the first time. Both were pursuing short courses — Sahil in marketing and Shivani in economics. “As fate would have it, we were staying in the same hall when we bumped into each other for the first time,” reminisces Sahil Malik, 39. Shivani recalls Sahil incessantly complaining about the window in his room when she first saw him. “We had a brief chat over which he invited me for dinner with friends. But I didn’t feel like going and in fact, avoided him in the beginning.
But three days before I had to leave for Delhi, I met him over dinner with a few friends,” she says to which Sahil adds, “We found out we had had a lot of common friends. And this is how our story began.” The two met on each of those three days before Shivani’s departure to Delhi, and continued to stay in touch via messenger even when she was back in Delhi.
“We dated for three years before tying the knot in 2007,” says Shivani, 36. However, their joint enterprise Da Milano was born before they married. After the course at LSE, Shivani pursued her Masters in Economics and Finance at Warwick Business School. “I returned to get engaged and left again to complete my dissertation.
Thereafter, both of us went to London to collect my degree.” It was there that Sahil told Shivani to be a part of Da Milano wherein the two would work together to build this brand, which they now call their first baby. Sahil had conceptualised Da Milano while studying fashion design from NIFT. “After college hours, I would work with my father on his leather export business. We had one store at Connaught Place, which mostly catered to foreigners. While staying in London, I noticed the wide gap between the Indian and international retail market.
I would walk the streets of London in awe, marveling at the stores. Once I realised what we were missing, I decided to start a leather goods brand in India. This is the time when shopping malls were springing up in India, and I wanted Da Milano to be positioned at a high-end mall.” Today, Da Milano has 79 stores across India and four in Dubai. While marketing is Shivani’s forte, Sahil works on the logistics of expanding the brand for a global reach. “Our fifth store in Dubai will open at Dubai Mall next month. All Da Milano stores are owned and operated by us, there is no franchisee.
As a brand, we are very focused on product quality and customer relations. It is difficult to train a franchisee as everyone has a different mindset,” Shivani explains. While Shivani dislikes Sahil’s workaholic attitude as “he’s so passionate about work that sometimes he cannot disconnect from it”, Sahil gets irked by her impatience. “But I like her confidence and belief in herself as well as her ability to make quick decisions,” he says. Over the 13 plus years they have been married, they have understood each other’s unique strengths and weaknesses, and befittingly supplement each other. But the couple admits that their work and family life often become enmeshed.
“We feel bad when one area loses precedence. Although we make sure we eat together and take vacations with the kids (10-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter) to strike a balance, we can never leave work; it is always on our minds. This is a constant battle we fight together,” she says. Travelling to new places and trying new cuisines are hobbies the couple happily shares. “We derive pleasure in unwinding when we take time off as we work hard. We also rejuvenate ourselves by practicing yoga every day,” shares Sahil. “We work together, but have built our separate workspaces at home; it gives us the required independence to work in solitude,” says Shivani with a smile.
Side Trivia Today, Da Milano has 79 stores across India and four in Dubai. Their fifth store in Dubai will open at Dubai Mall next month. While marketing is Shivani’s forte, Sahil works on the logistics of expanding the brand for a global reach.