New Delhi, May 2 -- The first-person singular pronoun "I" comes up often when designer Ritu Beri speaks, though not in a self-indulgent way. It's a reflection of her strong sense of identity, of creating a niche in a world dictated by trends and keywords.

That's one of the reasons the designer launched Escape Goa, an immersive lifestyle space housed in a 200-year-old Portuguese villa in Palolem, earlier this year. Painted in her signature red-and-white colour combination, the space allows visitors to eat at a fine-dining restaurant overlooking a paddy field, enjoy performances by musicians and stand-up comics, listen to talks on various issues, explore pop-ups by homegrown brands that make accessories, perfumes and jewellery, and browse ...