As a young girl Shweta Nimkar loved to doodle shoe drawings which led her to launch her brand “Paio” in 2016 that means “pair” in Italian. While Shweta was studying Advertising & Mass Media at Ruia College, Mumbai, she spent much of her time sketching 100+ shoe designs. Deciding to take her passion further, she took off to study Design Fashion Management at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. Here, she decided to turn this hobby into her passion and worked on a project focusing on textiles, leather and shoes. On her return to Mumbai she sourced local craftsmen who helped her make her hobby into a successful business and launch “Paio.”

Paio footwear besides being known for its versatile designs is also PETA approved and vegan, a process that resonates with Ensembles sustainability efforts. The brand also works with many well known labels in the Indian fashion world featuring individual designer’s signature embroideries; the versatility of which has prompted us at Ensemble to make Paio a significant part of our accessories collections. When asked about her feelings about Ensemble, Shweta says,” “It has been an absolute pleasure to be associated with Ensemble. The team goes over and above to ensure that all brands get equal visibility in their stores through promotions and platforms. The brand ensures that the customers get more out of a purchase; they get to experience each designer and brand under their hood,”

Shweta and the Paio team work with us on a one-on-one basis to make sure that we are up to date with her latest and best pieces.

Focussing on being vegan , Shweta has stayed away from using real leather and works with different materials like faux leather and fabrics with embellished accessories for her footwear. The design philosophy of the label focuses on creativity, comfort, functionality and personality. With expertise in the art of design, Paio shoes are handcrafted right from the development of the design to the material selection, patternmaking and the finish. The label accentuates their pieces with cut-out bows, metallic straps and intricate hand embroidery.

The collection is unconventional, offering unique designs and styles. Paio regularly collaborates with established designers to create pieces distinct to the designer and has in the past collaborated with respected Lakme Fashion Week designers such as Siddhartha Bansal, Rajdeep Ranawat and Jade by Monica & Karishma. These capsule collections generally consist of signature embroideries that are typical to these designers.

In 2019, to mark the 20th year anniversary of the Payal Singhal brand, Paio and Payal Singhal collaborated to launch limited edition festive footwear which has proved to be a huge success. The collection focuses on modern-festive pairs with vibrant hand embroidery, patchwork, delicate detailing and are all crafted in vegan leather. Staying true to Payal Singhal’s signature style, the shoes have a touch of playful Indian and bohemian elements and transition well from occasion wear to everyday wear. The collection includes many different styles like flats, sandals, mules and block heels and features colourful thread work, leather embroidery, frayed tassels, applique work, patchwork and sequins that create a 3D effect on the designs. The colour palette of the Payal Singhal x Paio collaboration is similar to the tones Payal uses, bright and funky! Popular colours are cream, blue, grey and black which show off the bold, colourful and contrasting embroideries.

Paio’s collection has shoes which can be worn with almost everything in your wardrobe ranging from formal Indian wear to casual contemporary styles. The colourful flats are perfect to carry on a summer holiday to the beach while the slip-on mules are easy everyday favourites to run errands as you walk out the door. The open back sandals feature intricate details which make them comfortable and so fashionable to wear that if you choose they can even be worn under a black sequinned lehenga. The heels that are usually embellished with delicate embroidery look great with an Indian outfit and what’s even better is if you are looking for that coordinated but stylish look you can pair a Payal Singhal outfit with a pair of matching Paio shoes.

Shweta has amongst her clients Bollywood celebrities like Jacqueline Fernandez, Aditi Rao Hydari and Kalki Koechlin to Sayani Gupta, Esha Gupta, Swara Bhaskar and Shibani Dandekar, all of whom are often seen wearing her shoes to celebrity events or at press shoots.

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