decor
Interior designing is not everyone’s cup of tea and it takes real skill and understanding of spaces and colours to set up 
a place. It takes a creative person to combine aesthetics with the design and create a space that looks artistic yet chic. And one such person is Maleeka Ahmed who has a real passion for interior decor. She owned and operated a fashion retail store in Brooklyn, New York for 10 years where she mostly stocked brilliantly coloured and hand embroidered home accessories including geometrically patterned ralli quilts, pillows, and silk and organza curtains. Also she offered a wide selection of sterling silver reproductions of centuries old Pakistani jewellery and clothing sewn from shimmery fabrics.
Maleeka Ahmed has done many interior projects in New York and Dubai - both commercial and residential - and also designs spaces for her own exhibitions. After winding up her retail store in New York, Maleeka launched her signature brand ‘Human Made’ recently in Lahore, through a pop-up exhibition.
Maleeka initially started with women’s clothing and gradually ventured into designing jewellery, unisex collection of accessories and home decor items. Her creations are for people who are not afraid to be who they are; who are in search of something unique; who believe in transformations, something that they will cherish and enjoy. Something that is timeless and simple. According to Maleeka, the brand is a take on all things handmade and custom made. “I believe each of us express our humanity through all creative processes. My label aspires to showcase this individuality,” she shares.
Coming back to the offbeat exhibition, it was one of a kind where Maleeka not only displayed her creations but had also done the decor of the venue and creatively transformed it from raw to extraordinary. “I was looking for a grey, unfinished structure with high ceilings to highlight my collection and I was lucky to have found a dream location to work with. It was literally a blank canvas where I could create whatever I wanted to. It was a challenge since I had to start with even getting the electric wiring and lighting installed. I knew that since no one had left their imprint in that space, the end result would be exactly what I wanted,” she apprises about her choice of venue.
The reason she didn’t opt for opulent surroundings was because it would not have done justice to her brand. “It takes a lot more creativity to create a world in unfinished spaces. I feel it is so much more exciting to work in ways that no one has thought of. It opens up your mind to limitless possibilities and you start thinking outside the box,” she explains.
Regarding her idea behind using a grey structure to hold the exhibition, she says, “I had seen inspirations of grey structure in my travels in Europe. I was looking forward to doing a project that gave me the freedom to express my take on grey structures.”
Maleeka’s strongest element was the lighting installation in that space, which is the most important thing in any interior especially retail. “Lighting really gave that luxurious feeling of being under high ceilings. Your mind feels so free in such spaces. We as human beings are not meant to live in low ceilings with a feeling of being closed in a box. There is no inspiration in such spaces. I got great artists from Lahore to showcase their work which added magic to the cemented grey walls. I used beautiful Irani carpets with distressed look to be hung like installations on the walls, with the most vibrant colours and I added just the right light to bring out their beauty. I was blessed that amazing furniture designers shared their work. Basically we are all doing something very different in this market so, if put together the right way, the end result had to be beautiful and unique,” states Maleeka.
As far as the brand is concerned, Human Made is modern with a twist of progressive thinking. “I wanted to do it in a way that it would showcase my aesthetic sensibilities and how I view the world around me. Also, in many ways, I wanted to bring New York to Lahore with this rawness, sophistication and open mindedness,” she explains.
Talking about her jewellery line and choice of metals she shares, “The Baltit Project is inspired by Balitistan. Last year I was travelling through the region and decided to come up with a jewellery line inspired by the ancient coins of that region. I wanted to redefine jewellery as something healing, modern and timeless. I wanted to use metals that have healing properties like brass, copper and silver. My New York store was known for its jewellery. This time I wanted to create something purely out of my own imagination that would be very different, that would excite me and make me very happy because the wearer would have something meaningful from our roots, wearing a soul of this region.”
Plans are now rife for Maleeka’s online store and she will also expand her brand by introducing men’s line and accessories in the near future. “I love interiors, that’s my passion so adding that side to the brand will make me super happy because I will have so much to play with,” she concludes.
