Last updated : March 18, 2026 12:42 pm
From Khushali’s lens, retail design comes alive when ideas move beyond concepts and become spaces people interact with
Khushali’s journey into design began with a simple curiosity to understand how people feel and experience within spaces. During her design education, she found herself drawn to the point where brand, environment, and human behaviour meet. Retail, for her, felt like the most natural fit - a space where ideas aren’t just conceptual, but something people can walk into, interact with, and remember.
With a Master’s in Design Thinking and Spatial Design, Khushali has spent over eight years at Landor. Khushali shares that while she has worked with established brands like Tata Motors, Max Fashion, and Coca-Cola, what excites her most is what lies ahead. She says she would love to work with a fun D2C brand stepping into physical retail for the first time. She adds that startups particularly appeal to her because they come with the freedom to experiment and break away from traditional retail formats.
What is the best part of being a retail designer?
The most exciting part is seeing an idea transform into a physical environment that people interact with every day. As retail designers, we get to bring storytelling to life in physical spaces and respond to how people move through environments and engage with them. What makes it really rewarding is that it doesn’t stay conceptual. It influences how people discover products, connect with brands, and ultimately drive tangible business outcomes. At its core, retail design is about shaping shopping behaviour through creative decisions.
What is the top challenge as a woman in retail design?
Earlier in my career, one challenge for me was ensuring that younger voices, especially women, were heard with equal weight. Building confidence, articulating ideas clearly, and standing by design decisions becomes crucial. That said, the industry is evolving positively, with more women in leadership and stronger mentorship shaping a more balanced future.
Where do you derive your inspiration from?
A lot of my inspiration comes from observing how people behave in spaces, from airports to stores, noticing how they move, interact, and engage. Retail safaris with the team help us stay connected to evolving formats and real-world execution. Travel also plays a big role. Experiences in nature, art galleries, museums, architecture, and local cultures often spark ideas about emotion and atmosphere in spaces. Sometimes, the most interesting inspiration for retail comes from places that are not retail at all.
Favourite retail project & why?
One of my most memorable projects has been working on the retail identity for Tata.ev. We set out to create a destination, not just a showroom, where people could engage with electric mobility through workshops and community interactions.
The goal was two-phased: one was to move from being a transactional space to a place where you allow people to immerse themselves in the brand world, and the second was to shift perception from EV being all about cost-saving to sustainability. Using locally sourced materials, we pushed the category to show that retail can inspire a movement, not just sell a product.
What advice would you like to share with fellow & upcoming women in the field of retail design?
Stay curious and observe everything. Retail design isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about understanding behaviour, culture, and how people interact with spaces and brands. Trust your perspective, your voice has value, even early on. In a world where tools and skills are evolving fast, especially with AI, strong design opinions matter more than ever. Skills can be learned, but your point of view is what sets you apart and drives real impact.
What can help you unwind and reset during hectic workdays or when approaching a project deadline?
Personally, Pilates is almost like therapy for me. It helps me reset physically and mentally during intense phases. Walks, music, and conversations with friends and family that are completely unrelated to work also help me disconnect. At work, our team also has a small ritual. During hectic phases or after project deadlines, we sometimes stay back and play board games together. It’s a simple way to unwind, reset, and bond as a team after long days.
Which is your favourite travel destination and why?
One destination I absolutely loved and would happily visit again is Switzerland. The landscapes are truly spectacular, but what impressed me equally was how thoughtfully the infrastructure is designed, making it incredibly easy to explore different places.