The corner: Saher Qadir

The CEO, founder and designer of Esque, Saher Qadir, invites us to explore her studio


Sara Gheewala December 18, 2016

The CEO, founder and designer of Esque, Saher Qadir, invites us to explore her studio, a special corner, where she spends time creating fascinating pieces of furniture

We head over to the home of the uber talented Saher Qadir. Our vivacious host greets us warmly, and walks us over to her cherished corner where we instantly feel a sense of positivity as we absorb the multi-coloured surrounding. While we walk over to her quirky workspace, she explains why she chooses this as her favourite space: “This is the space where I really get creative. The style of the area keeps changing but I always want it to be eye-catching and awe inspiring. Esque is my baby; I started it from scratch. A lot of sleep was lost, and blood and sweat went into getting it where it is now, so I want to showcase it in the best way possible.”



Qadir’s space, true to her claim, is certainly beguiling. Our eyes bounce back and forth from one appealing sight to the next. The hard-to-miss neon Esque sign grabs our attention, “When I was thinking of what sign I wanted for my brand, my fetish for neon seemed perfect. I have always had a thing for neon signs, I even had one in my college dorm,” Qadir says. A wall is decorated with sticky notes, in harmonious colours, ranging from tones of green, blue, red, yellow, purple, black, grey and even white. Esque’s most sought after design, the ‘Lucite Coffee Table’ made of acrylic, stands proudly against the sticky note wall, and on it we see a perfectly polished metallic fish in gold.



Our eye moves onto a terracotta wall that showcases the stock for Qadir’s next exhibition. We spot a number of signature Esque products including the gold Caeser lamp, lion head bins in various colours, neon wall mirror frames. Bright fairy lights adorn the shelves and add a festive feel to the space. Qadir shares that the wall is her favourite element in this space: “The ‘Terracotta Warrior Wall’ to me is perfect as it holds every single one of my designs. Be it an old piece, a classic one, an experimental item or a brand new design, everything goes on the shelves of the ‘Terracotta Warrior Wall’ until they are sold. A piece that is unfortunately too big to fit on the wall and is my all-time favourite is called the ‘Shikar’ chair. The ‘Shikar’ chair has beautiful pheasants on it and reminds me of hunters, just like my late father.”



We spot an intriguing wall painting right above the door. The bright green artwork is made from crushed metal and polished in high gloss. We can’t help but take another look at the fascinating piece of modern art.

During our pleasurable conversation with Qadir, she shares that while this room is her working space, it is not restricted to just her. “Everyone in my house likes to come and hang out here. My mother comes and has a cup of tea with me here everyday, as she feels blissful being around happy and colourful designs. This is a room full of life, and it’s my pride,” she smiles.

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