I grew up around leather.

Not as an idea, but as a smell, a sound — the hum of machines running late, the whiff of oils and warm hide, hands that knew exactly what they were doing. My family has spent generations making and exporting leather goods, and that workshop was where I first understood what it means to make something with your own hands.

It became, for me, a place filled with the things I loved, and the place where the maker in me began.

I left to study Footwear & Accessories Design in the UK, and later designed for Jimmy Choo, London— years that taught me precision, restraint, and what luxury actually means up close.  Somewhere in it all, it brought me back to where it all began-something very close to home.

IS-AY is my family’s knowledge of leather and my own journey as a designer! It is for the people who still believe in messy buns and magic!

Lastly, Thank you so so much for being here.

-Ishika Choudhary