An Interior Designer from Kolkata with over 35 years of award-winning experience in creating aesthetically soulful spaces in residential, commercial, and hospitality domains, Manisha Shah obtained her bachelor's degree from Shri Shikshayatan College and got Certified as an Interior Designer by Berger Paints. She is the mastermind behind Cilpam Interiors. Her statesmen marketing approach willfully marries traditional Indian aesthetics with contemporary design principles, garnering her the Principal Architect-level Architect’s WOW Award in 2024 and the Super Woman 2025 Title Achiever. She also holds respect as a mentor, keynote speaker, and an advocate for Indian heritage conservation through design.

Manisha Shah – Super Woman 2025 | Award-Winning Interior Designer from Kolkata

Born on October 31, 1964, in Kolkata, Manisha Shah was drawn to arts and cultural aesthetics from a very young age. Her schooling began at J.J. Ajmera High School, from where she completed her high school in 1981, and obtained a B.A. degree from Shri Shikshayatan College in 1986. She always wished to work in a domain, which was creative and transformative. Hence, she went on to pursue a 2-year professional course in interior design from Berger Paints (1986–87), thereby foraying into the world of design.

Her professional life started in 1987 under the able guidance of a famous artist/designer, Mr. O.C. Ganguly. Her early professional work was deeply involved with research-based projects inspired by Indian traditional art, architecture, and regional craft forms. Her efforts got displayed into government-run showrooms like Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka State Emporium, and Gurjari at Dakshinapan, Kolkata, all developed hand-researched, hand-drawn motifs of elephant and lotus with a deep understanding of culture.

Today, she heads Cilpam Interiors-a premier design studio based in Kolkata-that symbolises all that is exotic, functional, and emotional. Her career still speaks of her conviction: Transforming Spaces, Transforming Lives.

Manisha Shah is the visionary Founder and Principal Designer at Cilpam Interiors, a design firm based in Kolkata that excels in various areas: • Residential Interiors: Crafting premium homes and apartments that beautifully blend elegance with practicality. • Commercial Design: Designing offices, showrooms, and corporate spaces that marry aesthetics with functionality. • Hospitality Projects: Creating immersive designs for restaurants, hotels, and wellness spaces. • Thematic Exhibition Stalls: Developing innovative setups for trade shows and design expos, often celebrated for their creativity. Her dedication to crafting culturally rich, emotion-driven interiors has established her as a prominent figure in the Indian design scene.

In a city very rich in history, art, and designing inspiration, her quest into the interior design profession started humbly but with passion. Fresh from college, the conventional routes did not interest her. She took up the interior design course and apprenticed with Mr. O.C. Ganguly, whose approaches gave her an ingrained understanding and respect for research-oriented, culturally relevant design.

Her early projects had Indian origins that required a lot of research, from places such as the National Library. She would delight in manual work—concept sketches by hand, lines drawn with full respect for the traditional story of the space. She developed an interest in Indian patterns-right from the lotus to elephants, tribal motifs, and craft textures, and these became her style in her earlier works.

With the evolution of the design industry, her skill, too, expanded, embracing all new tools, technology, and styles but without losing sight of her core values. Eventually, with Cilpam Interiors, under Manisha Shah's ownership, the practice was transformed from a single-woman studio into a multidisciplinary team handling projects of the highest caliber.