Jacqueline Kapur dons many hats – entrepreneur, fashion designer, equestrian sportsperson, restaurateur, and mother. She is now famous as the founding father of Ayesha Accessories, a present-day fashion brand for younger girls. One the only a few girls solo-marketers in the United States of America, but Jacqueline’s most effective claim to fame isn’t always. Her relationship with India itself is unique.
Born and taken up in Germany, Jacqueline moved to Puducherry in 1989 with her then-boyfriend Dilip Kapur, who based her life logo on Hidesign. She studied Japanese at the University of Bochum and the Japanese Language Institute in Tokyo, Japan.
After getting married to Dilip, Jacqueline became instrumental in starting Hidesign’s garment division and oversaw and designed jackets. 1999, Jacqueline opened Casablanca, one of India’s first multi-logo branch shops. In 2000, she opened ‘Titanic, a garment outlet in Puducherry that houses European styles at low-cost prices.
Having made Puducherry her home, Jacqueline calls herself a ‘Tamil point.’ She has five puppies, 15 cats, and 26 horses at the Red Earth Riding School, which she installed in 2000 with some buddies.
In her fifties, Jacqueline also runs a BnB visitor house, ‘The Black Box, ‘ which is made from recycled transport bins, and opened a 50-seater casual eating bistro in Puducherry known as ‘PY Love (in symbol) Café.’ She has individually designed it using recycled furniture and mirrors.
Around 2008, Jacqueline noticed an opening in India’s style marketplace—there was no style jewelry brand catering to girls who chose contemporary and Western designs. To fill that hole, she launched her brand—Ayesha—along with her financial savings and a small crew of women who labored with her in Hidesign. Besides jewelry, Ayesha slowly grew to encompass bags, sun shades, scarves, hair accessories, etc.
In the last decade, Ayesha has elevated to dozens of shops throughout the tier-one cities of the United States of America. Being a ‘girl entrepreneur’ has no longer discouraged Jacqueline. She says, “I am frequently perceived as an outsider but have continually felt welcomed. But I assume ladies are but to take over essential roles in the Indian body of workers.”
After her divorce in 2016, Jacqueline tells YourStory that business dropped briefly. Now, Ayesha is back to its excellent mode and has been invited to expand its operations within the Middle East. To amplify this, Ayesha is in talks with outside investors for funding.
Jacqueline’s son Milan, 27, works overseas. Jacqueline’s daughter Ayesha, who performed the protagonist Michelle McNally (Rani Mukherjee’s adolescence) in the Bollywood film Black in 2000, is an associate in the firm named after her. The 24-12-month-old is now a scholar at Columbia University.
