Penelope Chilvers's first trip to India was as spellbinding and magical as she hoped it would be. The British footwear designer beloved of the Princess of Wales spent ten days exploring the landscape of Rajasthan – home of deserts and maharajas, palaces and tigers – on horseback, foot and Jeep and can't wait to return.
"It was like opening Pandora's box because I'll get obsessed. I didn't want to come home," she says in our exclusive interview.
In fact, Penelope, whose celebrity clients include Amal Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Pippa Middleton, was so inspired by the richness and colours of the landscape and the people she met that she created two designs, a slipper and a riding boot, for the conservation-focused safari camps where she stayed.
The Princess of Wales, who was first spotted wearing Penelope's Long Tassel boot in 2004, is probably her most famous customer.
"She was not only one of my first clients, but has worn them repeatedly over many years. Not when she was in the city, looking smart, but doing the kind of things that I've just been doing in India, out and about, visiting conservation projects in Canada or visiting schools or cleaning beaches. I've very proud of that."
The designer's trip wasn't just for pleasure; following in the footsteps of the Princess and her husband, the Prince of Wales, Penelope is a champion of sustainability and every year supports conservation initiatives through her brand. This year, she is working with Suján, the first positive impact safari camp of its kind in India, founded in 2001 by author and entrepreneur Jaisal Singh, who runs it with his wife Anjali.
During her 10-day trip Penelope stayed at all three of Sujan's conservation-focused wilderness camps in Rajasthan.
Every morning and evening, when the sun was lower in the sky, she would go for a ride on one of the camp's native Marwari horses and take in the wilderness.
"We watched the sun rise over the Aravalli mountain range and I felt at one with this amazing landscape. I saw a leopard – he was sitting on a rock, just watching us – and if you looked carefully through your binoculars, you could see a crocodile sunning itself on the sand. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before."
In a special collaboration inspired by her trip to India, Penelope has co-designed with Anjali a Suján riding boot and a green velvet tiger-print slipper. Ten per cent of sales will be donated to Suján's tiger conservation and rewilding projects.
To read the rest of this interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.