(Photo: Jake Chessum)

What are you doing today?
Going to the Carlyle to meet my roommate’s family. We’re taking her niece and nephew to a tea party there.

Are you from New York?

I grew up in Nepal until I was 15, and then I moved to Bangladesh, then
Pakistan, then India. And then I came to FIT, which was the first time
I came to New York.

Do you miss Nepal?

Sometimes. My mother was adopted by the prince of Nepal, so I grew up
in the palace, but I don’t have the royal blood. It did come with its
own perks, but when I moved to the U.S., it was almost like a handicap
because I didn’t know how to do anything for myself, like laundry and
things like that.

Have you always been into fashion?

When I was growing up in Nepal in the eighties, we would get our jeans
from Hong Kong. People are very aware of how they dress in Nepal. Men
are more fashionable than the women because they have more freedom. I
used to go through all the magazines and was very influenced by Boy

What’s your style like now?

Influenced mostly by my mood. Today, my mood is to stay warm, so I’m
wearing a jacket that I had manufactured in Peru. It’s a copy of an old
jacket owned by a Ghurka soldier. The big scarf, my mom gave me.

What kind of clothes do you design?

Fun, colorful ones. I make lots of clothes for the biggest Latin rock stars. It’s all very artsy-fartsy.