Malini's story: from an impossible date to a brand
Some are born with a plan, and some are found by destiny.
Sanjiv d'Emilio had not planned anything that was about to happen.
He had not planned to become an entrepreneur in the fashion world.
He knew nothing about Indian craftsmanship, textile techniques, production timelines, or technical fashion terms.
He didn't have a company, he didn't have capital, he didn't have contacts in the sector.
Yet, one afternoon a few years ago, he walked out of a lavish building in the center of Milan with an order from one of the biggest Italian fashion houses in his pocket and his accountant's number already dialed on his phone.
This is the story of how Malini was born.
It's not a story of business plans and market strategies; it's a story of courage, mistakes, discoveries, and rediscovered passion.
It is, as often happens with the most beautiful things, a story that no one could have written on paper.
🌏 Before the beginning: the nomad searching for himself
To understand Malini, you have to start much earlier—you have to go to Australia, to the beaches of Polynesia, on low-cost flights connecting Bangkok to Sydney at three in the morning.
Sanjiv had spent two and a half years in Australia, an experience that had transformed him in the quiet and profound way that only real journeys, those without a safety net, can.
From his Australian base, he had explored half the world: Thailand, Fiji, the Cook Islands, Polynesia, etc. He had learned that the best way to understand the world was to move, observe, and let himself be surprised.
When he returned to Italy, he brought with him that nomadic lightness and a growing restlessness.
He joined his father's company, trying for a few years with seriousness and commitment, but something wasn't right.
The enthusiasm wasn't there. Italy seemed too small for him, not for lack of beauty, but for lack of inner space—that oppressive feeling of not being able to grow, to evolve, to truly be himself.
He didn't know yet that he was simply waiting for the right spark.
✨ The mother, the scarves, and the impossible appointment
Rajini Chandran D'Emilio, Sanjiv's mother and now Malini's creative director, has never been an ordinary woman.
An eclectic artist, a tireless creative, she had inherited her talent for beauty from her own mother, Malini, to whom the brand owes its name and soul.
In the 80s and 90s, she was one of the first entrepreneurs in Italy to import antique Indian furniture, a pioneering business in an era when India was still very far from the imagination of Western design.
But the dream of creating something in fashion and textiles had never left her; she only lacked the right business partner for the entrepreneurial part, someone who could translate her creative vision into a concrete business.
One day she asked Sanjiv to accompany her to an appointment; she had secured a meeting with a large and famous Italian fashion house.
Sanjiv accepted, also because he had seen that working with his father was not making him happy, and his mother had noticed.
As they approached the potential client's headquarters, a lavish building that communicated power and history, Sanjiv was already mentally prepared for disappointment.
"We are nobody," he thought. "We'll last five minutes and they'll send us home."
🤝 Five minutes that changed everything
The designer welcomed them unexpectedly, with warmth, curiosity, and that genuine willingness to listen that is not often encountered in business. They talked about this and that for almost half an hour. Sanjiv had relaxed, he was even enjoying the conversation.
Then came the moment of truth. The designer asked what they had brought to propose.
Sanjiv braced himself for embarrassment. Rajini opened her bag.
Out came a series of colorful chiffon silk scarves, hand-dyed in India using traditional artisanal techniques.
The designer saw them and went wild. She picked them up, held them against the light, touched them, found them marvelous. She wanted to order them. Immediately!!
Sanjiv took the surprise without batting an eye and said it could be done. He shook hands. He left the building.
And as soon as he stepped outside the door, he realized the magnitude of what he had just done.
He didn't have a registered company. He didn't know who had produced those scarves. He didn't have the funds to finance the production. He didn't know anyone in the fashion industry. He knew nothing about imports, customs duties, delivery times, technical terminology. He knew absolutely nothing except one thing: he couldn't back out.
🏃 From zero to delivery: the most important lesson
What followed was a tour de force that would have discouraged anyone else.
Opening the company in record time. Tracking down the artisan who had created those scarves almost from scratch. Finding a bank willing to finance the production of a newly established company. Understanding how importing from India worked. Learning on the fly the strict timelines of fashion, a sector that waits for no one and forgives no delays.
He did it. The order arrived on time. It was delivered. The fashion house was satisfied.
And Sanjiv, for the first time in a long time, felt alive and adrenalized.
"The rest is history," he says today with that simplicity that only belongs to those who have truly lived things.
Ups and downs, mistakes upon mistakes, significant financial losses, some painful setbacks.
But also great successes, collaborations with some of the most important Italian and international fashion houses, meetings with legendary designers.
A journey that, in retrospect, seems like the perfect script for a Martin Scorsese film.
🌿 The most important discovery: craftsmanship as art
In the midst of all this, Sanjiv made the most important discovery of his professional and perhaps personal life.
He discovered he loved craftsmanship.
Not just Indian craftsmanship, but craftsmanship in all its forms, from anywhere in the world.
He discovered that behind every traditional technique there is an extraordinary human story, a transmission of knowledge across generations, a beauty that no machine can replicate. And he discovered that this passion had always been within him; since childhood, he loved to draw and create, then life had taken him elsewhere, and this extraordinary journey had helped him remember.
It was at that moment that the idea of Malini took shape, no longer just a supply business for other brands, but a brand of its own.
A place where Rajini's creative vision and Sanjiv's entrepreneurial energy could work together for something entirely theirs.
A brand born in Milan, with the soul of India and Italian aesthetic rigor. A brand that gathers the most extraordinary artisanal techniques from different regions of India and brings them into the wardrobes and homes of women around the world. A brand that bears the name of Malini – the grandmother, the origin, the root of everything.
🚀 The biggest challenge: educating before selling
Today, Malini is much more than an online store. It is a cultural project.
The challenge Sanjiv and Rajini face every day is not just commercial, it's educational.
Making the world understand what craftsmanship truly is. What it means to touch a fabric handmade by someone who learned from their father, who learned from their grandfather.
Teaching what is lost every time one chooses a fast fashion item instead of an artisanal one.
"We don't want to chase trends" is the principle that guides every decision. "We want to teach consumers to be themselves and to buy less, but better."
It's a difficult mission in a fast-paced world that consumes a lot and forgets quickly.
But Malini has already shown, through its own story, that impossible things still get done.
You just have to not back out.
Want to know more about Malini's story and the artisans we work with? Follow us on Instagram @maliniworld and discover a piece of this extraordinary journey every day.
Explore the Malini world: our story, our eco-sustainable commitment, and our artisanal collections.