Not many designers would put scarlet sequined gowns in the same collection as beaded silk tops that pair with jeans. But Sujata Gazder embraces that tension between drama and ease. She launched her namesake line in 2024 from a home studio in Aurora, sourcing tweeds and lace from France and sending beadwork to India for hand-finishing. The results move easily from black-tie to after-hours. Her inspirations skew eclectic: wrought iron swirls, Mughal mosaics, quilts. “Even an interesting vase with fretwork can spark an idea,” she says. Raised in Kolkata, Gazder came to Chicago in the ’90s to study piano, but design kept pulling at her. The vibrancy of India — saris, brocades, and saturated colors — infuses her work, though she insists it’s less about spectacle than emotion: “I’m a romantic at heart.” sujatagazder.com